LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Shelf BSLb 50 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Natural 'Lav/s 



AND 



GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 



BY 



HERBERT W. MORRIS, D. D., 

AUTHOR OF *' SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE,'* "TESTIMONY OF THE 

AGES," ETC. 





AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK CITY. 



N^ ">:.■. 



\ 



^ 



X 






COPYRIGHT, 1S87, 
BY AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 




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INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

The Records. The Ordeals. The Weapons and Fields of 

Conflict. The Object 'of the Volume 5 

PART I. 

NATURE'S RECORD AND THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES. 

I. Coincidence as to Localities _ 12 

IL Coincidence as to Vegetation 39 

in. Coincidence as to Living Creatures 48 

IV. Coincidence as to Climate 57 

V. Conclusion 60 

PART IL 

NATURAL LAWS AND THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 

I. The Subject stated 66 

II. Miracles an Essential Part of Christianity 66 

III. Miracles not Impossible 68 

IV. Objections to Miracles 70 

V. Evidence for Miracles in Nature "jj 

VI. Character of the Evidence for Christ's Miracles 93 

VII. The Criteria of Christ's Miracles 95 

VIII. Witnesses for the greatest of Gospel Miracles 97 

IX. Historic Evidence for Christ's Miracles loi 

X. The Character of Christ an Evidence for his Miracles.- 106 



4 CONTENTS. 

PART III. 

NATURAL LAWS AND ANSWER TO PRAYER. 

L Prayer a Duty and a Privilege 109 

n. Objections Urged against Prayer m 

in. Prayer the Voice of Nature 114 

IV. Prayer Answered by Influence on Minds 120 

V. Prayer Answerable through Invariable Laws 130 

VI. Answer to Prayer and the Conservation of Force 137 

VII. Conclusion . ^ ^ 143 

PART IV. 

NATURAL LAWS AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE 

DEAD. 

I. The Resurrection a Doctrine of Revelation 146 

II. Difficulties presented by the Doctrine 147 

III. How the Body is built up 149 

IV. How the Body is dissolved and changed 152 

V. What becomes of the Material Body 154 

VI. Scripture statements verified 157 

VII. The Builder of this Earthly Tabernacle 159 

VIII. The properties of the Body that shall be 164 

IX. To every seed his own Body »-, 169 

PART V. 

NATURAL LAWS AND THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION. 

I. The Subject stated 173 

II. Tha Element that shall Destroy the World 175 

III. Conflagration of other Worlds 183 

IV. Past Destructions and Renovations of our Planet 185 

V. The New Earth and New Heavens 188 

VI. The Dwellers of the New Earth 191 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



In the New Testament we have four distinct 
narratives of the Life of the GREAT TEACHER, 
Jesus of Nazareth. These were written by four 
different authors, each of whom professes to give, 
to the extent of his plan and purpose in writing, 
a true account of his birth and parentage, habits 
and character, teachings and miracles, sufferings 
and death. 

No records, no writings of any character, an- 
cient or modern, have been so closely studied or 
been subjected to such varied and severe criticism 
as have these four brief biographies. The ordeal 
through which they have passed is without a 
parallel in the history of literature. Nothing that 
is embraced in them, nothing that is connected 
with them, has escaped the most searching scru- 
tiny. The facts which they relate, the doctrines 
which they teach, the references they make to 
social habits and civil rulers, the principles of 
ethics and science and philosophy which they in- 
volve, the dates and localities they name, together 
with every item and incident they contain, have 
all been subjected to the severest examination by 



6 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

all orders of intellect for eighteen centuries. No 
means or method that can well be conceived has 
been left unemployed by their enemies to disprove 
their claims, to overthrow their authority, and to 
oppose their influence. 

The ground and method adopted to oppose and 
imdermine the gospel have ever changed with the 
changes of time. Old fields having been found 
untenable and old weapons having proved power- 
less, others supposed to be more promising have 
been taken up in their stead. This has taken 
place again and again. In the last age the most 
powerful assaults made were on the ground of 
metaphysics. In our own day the battle is main- 
ly waged on the field of the physical sciences ; and 
here the most specious and threatening attacks 
that have ever assailed the gospel have been made. 
On this field it is attempted to set the record of 
matter against the record of the Spirit, to oppose 
the laws of nature to the laws and miracles of 
Christ, and to array the forces of nature against 
the very foundations of providence and prayer 
and hope of resurrection to a better life. And it 
is to a consideration of these last attacks made on 
the Christian faith that the following pages are 
devoted. In them we hope to offer abundant proof 
that the foundation of our faith still standeth 
strong and to present facts that will enable the 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 7 

Christian reader to give a scientific as well as a 
Scriptural reason for the hope that is in him. 

As a fitting introduction to what is to follow 
and as affording an indisputable corroboration of 
the truth and accuracy of the gospel narratives, 
our first chapter shall be occupied w^ith a pre- 
sentation of the complete coincidence of the evan- 
gelists' statements with those of recent explorers 
in relation to the physical features, natural pro- 
ductions, cities and villages, streams and routes, of 
the land in which the scenes of the gospel were 
enacted. The testimony which nature thus bears 
can neither be gainsaid nor resisted, and the mi- 
nute and perfect accuracy of the Scriptures as 
thus tested confirms our confidence in their truth- 
fulness where we have not the same means of 
testing them. 



NAO^URAL LAWS 



AND 



GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 



PART I. 
nature's record and gospeIv narratives. 

Between history and geography, between 
events and localities, there is always a real and 
necessary connection, and the latter serve not only 
to explain, but also to corroborate, the former. 
Wherever a narrative or transaction is involved in 
the conditions of a place or spot still accessible 
and open for examination, there we have an ele- 
ment of evidence for the narrative or transaction 
which is substantial and not to be set aside. 
^' Facts," says Prof. Stanley, *^are stubborn, and 
geographical facts happily the most stubborn of 
all. We cannot wrest them to meet our views, 
but neither can we refuse the conclusions they 
force upon us. It is by more than a figure of 
speech that natural scenes are said to have * wit- 



lO NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPElv TE;ACHINGS. 

nessed ' the events which occurred in their pres- 
ence. They are ' witnesses ' which remain when 
the testimony of men and books has perished. 
They can be cross-examined with the alleged facts 
and narratives. If they cannot tell the whole 
truth, at any rate, so far as they have any voice 
at all, they tell nothing but the truth." The 
correctness of these observations is abundantly 
exemplified in the topography of every land whose 
ancient history has come down to us with any 
degree of accurate detail, but in that of no country 
more strikingly than in Palestine. 

Palestine, the land of the Saviour's birth and 
ministry and the scene of all the events and do- 
ings related by the evangelists, within the last 
fifty years has been visited by great numbers of 
intelligent men, learned historians, and experi- 
enced naturalists of every shade of faith and of 
every type of unbelief. It has been studiously 
explored again and again from one end to the 
other; its ancient sites and ruins, its lakes and 
streams and mountains, its climate and soil and 
productions, have all been carefully studied, and 
latterly its whole extent has been accurately sur- 
veyed and mapped by a scientific corps sent out 
from England, In short, not a spot of ground, 
not a vegetable growth, not a living species of 
beast or bird or insect, has been left unstudied that 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. II 

is mentioned in either of the four Gospels. And 
the result of all this has been that the harmony 
between the simple statements and incidental 
allusions of the evangelists and the present fea- 
tures and products of the land is found to be so 
striking and complete, that it stands now an ac- 
knowledged fact that these writers must have 
been citizens of this country and must have been 
dwellers in it at the time of which they speak 
and familiar with the scenes they describe. 

Here, then, are evidences in support of the 
gospel narratives which no theory or interpreta- 
tion can controvert or deny. Nor is this all. 
The warp and woof of a piece of tapestry are not 
more closely related to the forms and figures dis- 
played upon it than are the physical features of 
Palestine to the events and doings of the gospel 
history. Its journeys and discourses, parables and 
miracles, are so involved in the conditions, sur- 
roundings, or imagery of the localities where they 
transpired that a glance at these as they still exist 
is sufficient to carry conviction to all candid minds 
that in those Gospels they are reading, not myths 
or legends, but real history, and that they are fol- 
lowing, not a phantom hero, but a living Man who 
trod the ground on which they stand, heard the 
murmur of the waves and streams which fall upon 
their own ears, and looked upon the scenes on 



12 NATURAI, T^AWS AND GOSPEI. TEACHINGS. 

which their own eyes now gaze. To be convinced 
of all this let us now follow the footsteps of the 
blessed Redeemer as he went through the cities 
and villages preaching and showing the glad 
tidings of the kingdom of God. 

I. COINCIDENCE AS TO LOCAUTIES. 

Bethlehem. — The gospel history opens with 
the joyful announcement, '* Behold, I bring you 
good tidings of great joy which shall be to all 
people; for unto you is born this day, in the city 
of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the lyord." 
This city of David (Bethlehem) still remains 
with its name scarcely changed, being now 
called Beit-lahm. It is situated some six miles 
south of Jerusalem, on a narrow ridge, with creep- 
ing vineyards along its slopes and cornfields be- 
low. At the distance of about a mile east is a 
little plain, now marked by the ^'Chapel of the 
Herald Angel ' ' as possibly the place where grazed 
the flocks over which the shepherds kept watch 
by night. The site of Bethlehem and the whole 
surrounding scene are in perfect agreement with 
all we read of them in the sacred history. There 
exists no doubt of its identity, nor has there ever 
been a doubt. 

Egypt. — Warned of the murderous design of 
Herod, *^ Joseph took the young child and his 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. I3 

mother by night and departed into Egypt. ' ' From 
Bethlehem Egypt was the nearest and most natu- 
ral place of refuge to which they could flee. It 
could be reached in three or four days; and once 
on the farther bank of the winter stream which 
marked its boundary, they would be beyond the 
reach of Herod's jurisdiction. 

Nazareth. — Informed of the death of Herod, 
Joseph ventured to leave Egypt and to return to 
the land of Israel; but, as he drew near, learning 
that Archelaus reigned in Judaea in the room of 
his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither, and 
by divine direction ''he turned aside into the 
parts of Galilee and came and dwelt in a city 
called Nazareth." And there, according to the 
evangelists, was the home of Jesus from his in- 
fancy to his manhood. And this place, like Beth- 
lehem, has preserved his memory through all the 
centuries and remains to this day a visible witness 
for the reality of his person and the truth of his 
history. In its present site and aspect every state- 
ment and allusion of the evangelists finds its full 
and clear confirmation. Its name, En-Nazirah, is 
the same as that given it in Matthew 2:23. It is 
built on a hillside, as described in Luke 4:29. It 
is situated within the province of Galilee, as 
stated in Mark 1:9. It is near to Cana, as inti- 
mated in John 2: i, 2, 11. Behind and above it is 



14 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

a precipice, steep and forty feet high, correspond- 
ing to that described in Luke 4:29, to which his 
enraged fellow-townsmen led him, purposing to 
cast him down thence to destroy him. Its site 
stands nearly 1,500 feet higher than that of Ca- 
pernaum, so that when he visited the latter place, 
as stated in Luke 4:31 and in John 4:47, he lit- 
erally ''went down" to Capernaum. So correct 
and definite are the statements of the gospel nar- 
ratives; yet all these topographical facts are men- 
tioned merely incidentally therein ; the correspond- 
ence, therefore, between the statements and the 
facts as now found existing is all the more won- 
derful and convincing. 

Jerusalem. — According to the national cus- 
tom, Joseph and Mary visited Jerusalem every 
year at the feast of the Passover. Arrived at the 
age of twelve years, v/hen Jewish boys began to 
assume the responsibilities of the law, Jesus ac- 
companied his parents to celebrate this feast at 
the great city. The existence of Jerusalem and 
the identity of its site at this day are too well 
known to require any proof. The observance of 
the feast over, they set out in company with a 
multitude of others to return, but ''the child Jesus 
tarried behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his 
mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him 
to have been in the company, went a day's jour- 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. 15 

ney; and they sought him among their kinsfolk 
and acquaintance. And when they found him 
not they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking 
him." ^ 'Among such a sea of human beings," 
says Dr. Farrar, *'how easy would it be to lose 
one young boy. The incident constantly occurs 
to this day in the annual expeditions of the pil- 
grims to bathe in the fords of Jordan and among 
the hundreds of Mohammedans whom I have seen 
at Easter streaming southwards to the tomb of 
Moses." ''Went a day's journey:" this expression 
implies that the entire journey would occupy sev- 
eral days, and so it did, for the w^hole distance was 
about eighty miles. The first day's journey by 
caravan is often but a few miles. Here, then, again 
localities, time, distance, and circumstances are all 
perfectly coincident with the gospel narratives. 

Bethabara. — From Jerusalem Jesus returned 
home with his parents. After this nothing is re- 
lated of him till he was thirty years old, when he 
left Nazareth and went down to receive baptism 
at the hands of John. This v/as "at Bethabara 
beyond Jordan, where John was baptising." In 
the Revised Version this is rendered Bethany. No 
visible mark remains to indicate the spot, but from 
a consideration of all the facts mentioned in con- 
nection with it, and especially from the significa- 
tion of the name, which is " House of ford," it is 



l6 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

thought by some to have been at the upper ford of 
Jordan, on the east side, and not far south of L^ake 
Tiberias. It was '4n the wilderness," we are 
told, that John administered this rite, and the re- 
tired solitude of that deep valley was and still is 
truly such. It was on the banks of the Jordan 
that Jesus joined the assembled multitude, and 
that stream still flows between its banks as of 
yore. The tall ''reeds shaken with the wind" 
are still there. And the bare ''stones" still lie 
around from which the Baptist said God was 
"able to raise up children unto Abraham." 

Scene of the Temptation — The baptism 
of Christ was immediately followed by his mys- 
terious temptation. ' ' Then was Jesiis led up of 
the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the 
devil." He was now on the east bank of Jordan, 
and from thence "was led up," that is, up to the 
desolate hills beyond. "And he was there with 
the wild beasts:" the undisturbed thickets and 
caves of that region to this day make it the favor- 
ite haunt of such creatures. There the tempter 
bade him "command that these stones be made 
bread;" and at many a spot the ground is still 
strewn with stones of every size and form. "And 
the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high 
mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms of 
the world;" and there, a little north of the Jabbok, 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. 1 7 

just such a high mountain is found, from the 
summit of which a most extended prospect of the 
whole surrounding region is presented ; the heights 
of Lebanon, the Sea of Galilee, the plain of Es- 
draelon, Mt. Carmel, the Mediterranean, and the 
whole range of Judah and Ephraim are distinctly 
visible. Prof. Palmer pronounces it the finest 
view he ever saw in any part of the world. And 
Dean Stanley says of it, ''It is in all probability 
the view which furnished the framework of the 
vision of ' all the kingdoms of the world ' w^hich 
was revealed in a moment of time to Him who 
was driven up from the valley below to these 
mountains at the opening of his public ministry." 
Cana. — The temptation ended, the Saviour 
returned from the wilderness to the scene of his 
baptism at the fords of Jordan. Seeing him ap- 
proaching, the Baptist said to those that stood by, 
''Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away 
the sin of the world !" In virtue of this memor- 
able testimony two Galileans at once became the 
disciples of Christ, and on the next day three more. 
Accompanied by these he returned to Galilee. 
"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana 
of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 
And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the 
marriage." Here made he the w^ater into wine. 
This village still exists under the slightly altered 



Natural Laws. 



l8 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

name Kenna, and agrees in all the few particulars 
given of the place where Jesus performed this his 
first miracle. It is in the province of Galilee, as 
stated in John 2:1; it is near to Nazareth, as in- 
timated by the same, 2:2, being only four and a 
half miles distant, and it stands on higher ground 
than Capernaum, as is implied in the words, 
''After this he went down to Capernaum." 

Jacob's well. — A few months after the above 
occurrence Jesus, it is related, went up to Jerusa- 
lem to observe the Passover, and on his return 
"he must needs go through Samaria, and cometh 
to a city which is called Sychar, near to the parcel 
of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now 
Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being 
weary with his journey, sat thus on the well; and 
it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a wo- 
man of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto 
her. Give me to drink," etc. John 4. This in- 
cident, together with the conversation with the 
woman, and the interesting and important dis- 
course with the disciples to which it gave rise, as 
related by St. John, grew naturally out of the 
local situation where the Saviour on his journey 
found himself at the noonday hour; and all the 
roots of the story, instead of springing from some 
mythic or legendary brain, intertwine among the 
very peculiarities of the place, which still remain 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. I9 

for examination and comparison. In passing from 
Jerusalem to central Galilee, whither Jesus was 
now going, the traveller still ''must needs pass 
through Samaria," and pass, too, ''near to Sy- 
char,'' or where Sychar stood, of which traces are 
yet discernible. ''Jacob's well '' is still there, for 
the most part hewn in the solid rock, but near the 
surface incased in masonry. That "well is deep" 
still, not less than seventy-five feet, though much 
rubbish has fallen in and accumulated at the bot- 
tom. Fragments also of the temple still remain 
on "this mount" of Geri^im, in which the Sa- 
maritans said "men ought to worship." The 
rich "grain-fields" still spread in prospect from 
the spot as when "he sat weary at the well." 
In short, all the essential features of the scene, as 
described by the evangelist, remain unto this day. 
"On Sunday afternoon," says Prof H. B. Tris- 
tram, " we mounted the edge of the old vault and 
read together John 4. That chapter read by this 
well brings vividly home the accuracy of the evan- 
gelist. No other spot could so perfectly harmo- 
nise all the incidents of the inspired narrative. 
The very ruins are in keeping with it." The spot 
is undisputed and indisputable; Jews and Samari- 
tans, Christians and Mohammedans, are agreed 
concerning it. 

After a stay of two days at Sychar Jesus re- 



20 NATURAL I.AWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

sumed his journey, preaching the glad tidings of 
the kingdom as he advanced, until he reached his 
home in Galilee. Being rejected with rage and 
violence by his townsmen on the following Sab- 
bath, he bade a final adieu to Nazareth and made 
his future home beside the sunlit w^aters of the 
I^ake of Galilee. 

Basin of the Sea of Galilee. — ''Lrcaving 
Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, 
which is upon the sea-coast.'' The country bor- 
dering upon this beautiful lake in the early part 
of the first century, as we have abundant histori- 
cal evidence, was widely different in its condition 
and aspect from what it is at the present day. It 
was then occupied by a large and busy popula- 
tion. The soil w^as fertile and wxll cultivated 
everywhere, and bore rich crops of grain and all 
manner of delicious fruits. Every quarter exhib- 
ited a scene of activity and thrift. Its shores were 
adorned with numerous cities and villages. Some 
of these stood out conspicuously on the clear 
banks, and some lay half hid in the foliage of the 
receding hillsides. Everywhere the beach spar- 
kled with the houses and palaces of the Roman in- 
habitants or with the dwellings and synagogues 
of the Jews. At various points the arms and ar- 
mor of drilling garrisons or standing sentinels 
were seen glittering in the sunshine. Along the 



PHYSICAL COINCIDKNCKS. 21 

water's edge were heard the resounding strokes of 
the busy shipbuilders at every convenient spot. 
Prom the cities and villages fishermen went forth 
by scores and hundreds over the lake, which 
abounded with fish. With the boats of these 
mingled many vessels of traffic and pleasure. In 
a word, the basin of the Sea of Galilee was a focus 
of life and activity. Nowhere else, except per- 
haps at Jerusalem itself, could Jesus have found 
such a field for his gracious ministry; from no 
other centre could '^his fame'' have so readily 
spread ^' throughout all Syria;" and nowhere else 
could he have drawn around him the vast multi- 
tudes who hung on his lips, ''from Galilee, from 
Decapolis, from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan." 
In this populous region where the evangelists 
place the Saviour everything is in perfect harmo- 
ny with the gracious end of his ministry and with 
all the localities and incidents they describe. 
Here was the "Way of the Sea," the great cara- 
van road that ran along its western shore. Here 
were multitudes ''sitting in darkness and in the 
region and shadow of death," who stood in dying 
need of "the great light" which he brought into 
the world. Here were "the publicans sitting at 
the receipt of custom," Capernaum being the di- 
vergent point of the roads to Tyre, to Damascus, 
to Jerusalem, and to Sepphoris, the busy centre of 



22 NATURAI, I,AWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

merchandise, and therefore the natural place for 
the collection of tribute and taxes. Here were 
* ' the women who were sinners, ' ' drawn from 
heathen cities or corrupted by heathen manners. 
Here were Roman ^'centurions under authority,'* 
issuinof their stern commands to soldiers and ser- 
vants. And here, too, were hardy '' fishermen 
toiling through the night'' and '' washing" or 
*' mending their nets" during the day. In a 
word, here were found in actual existence and 
living reality, to their minutest particulars, all 
things that are described or named in the gospel 
narratives. 

In reading the gospel history of the Saviour's 
ministry in this notable field, our first and last 
and vivid impression is, not that we are tracing 
the misty movements of a legendary or fictitious 
character, but following the steps and witnessing 
the deeds of a living Man in contact with living 
men, and in close and immediate connection with 
the localities known to have existed there. 

Capernaum. — **He came and dwelt in Ca- 
pernaum." Here, as the evangelists relate, he 
taught the people and wrought many miracles. 
The doom which our Lord pronounced against it 
has been so signally fulfilled that its very site even 
now remains a matter of dispute. The gospel 
narratives state that it was a city, that it was sit- 



PIIYSICAI, COINCIDENCES. 23 

uated oil the northern shore of the lake, that it 
was on the west side in or near the land of Gen- 
nesaret, and that it had a synagogue built by a 
Roman centurion at his own expense. In 1870 
the English explorers, Capt. Wilson and his asso- 
ciates, discovered, at a spot called Tell Hum, 
ruins of walls and foundations covering a space 
half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, in 
which all the above conditions seemed to meet 
and which they believed to be the site of Caper- 
naum. Among the ruins w^ere those of a syna- 
gogue in a state of fine preservation, remarkable 
for its elegant architecture and belonging to an 
age at least as early as that of Christ. Speaking of 
the work of excavation in and around this build- 
ing, Capt. Wilson says, '^It was in this synagogue 
that our Lord delivered the discourse recorded in 
John 6, and it was not without a certain strange 
feeling that in turning over a large block we 
found the ^pot of manna' engraved on its face 
and remembered these words in that discourse: 
'I am the Bread of life. Your fathers did eat 
manna in the wilderness and are dead.'" To 
that engraved figure turned up by the English 
explorer the very finger of Jesus perhaps was 
pointed as he uttered these memorable words. 

Chora^in. — This place is often mentioned in 
connection with Capernaum and as being in its 



24 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPElv TEACHINGS. 

neigliborliood. And two miles nortli of Tell Hum 
are found ruins answering all the demands of the 
gospel history and still bearing the name Kho- 
ra^y, which, according to Dr. Thomson, is the 
Arabic form of Chora^in. On visiting the spot, 
^'Here we are," says he, ** among the shapeless 
heaps of Chorazin, which attest most impressively 
the fulfilment of that prophetic curse of the Son 
of God. It is just where we might expect to find 
it." 

Bethsaida. — In the sacred narratives Beth- 
saida is associated with Capernaum and Chorazin 
as being a neighboring town and doomed to the 
same woe. It is also said to have been the city of 
Andrew and Peter, who were fishermen, and fish- 
ing, as its name (House of Fish) implies, was the 
chief occupation of its inhabitants. Two miles 
east of Tell Hum and three miles southeast of 
Khora^y, at the debouchure of the Jordan into 
the lake. Dr. Thomson found a heap of ruins, 
which in all the above particulars answers to the 
Bethsaida of the gospel, and which therefore he 
considered to be its true site. 

Country of the GergesenES. — Our Lord 
on a certain occasion, being weary with inces- 
sant labors in the populous neighborhood of the 
above cities, took ship and sought rest on the 
more quiet eastern side of the lake, in the district 



PHYSICAL COINCIDKNCHS. 25 

of the Gergesenes. Here, it is related, Matt. 8: 28, 
etc., immediately on liis landing lie met and 
healed two fnrious demoniacs comino^ out of the 
tombs, and suffered the evil spirits that possessed 
them to enter into a herd of swine, which, under 
their diabolical influence, rushed into the lake and 
perished. Now on that very coast Dr. Thomson 
found a little prostrate town, called Gersa, whose 
position and surroundings answer in all particu- 
lars to the account given by the evangelists. This 
is his statement: ''The present name, as pro- 
nounced by the Bedouin Arabs, is very similar 
to that given by Matthew. It is within a few 
rods of the shore, and an immense mountain rises 
directly above it, in vv^hich are ancient tombs, out 
of some of which the two men possessed of the 
devils may have issued to meet Jesus. The lake 
is so near the base of the mountain that the swine, 
rushing madly down it, could not stop, but would 
be hurried on into the water and drowned. Take 
your stand a little south of this Gersa. A great 
heard of swine, we will suppose, is feeding on this 
mountain that towers above it. They are seized 
with a sudden panic, rush madly down the steep 
declivity, those behind tumbling over and thrust- 
ing forward those before, and as there is neither 
time nor space to recover on the narrow shelf be- 
tween the base and the lake, they are crowded 



26 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

headlong into the water and perish. All is per- 
fectly natural just at this point, and here, I sup- 
pose, it did actually occur." 

The Desert Place. — Some time after the 
above occurrence, on receiving the news of the 
murder of John the Baptist, saddened and weary, 
Jesus with his disciples left Capernaum *'and de- 
parted thence by ship into a desert place apart; 
and when the people had heard thereof they fol- 
lowed him on foot out of the cities." They went 
round the end of the lake and gathered about him 
on the opposite side, and there, after delivering 
to them various instructions, he fed five thou- 
sand of them with five loaves and two fishes. And 
here again we quote Dr. Thomson, who from years 
of residence is perfectly familiar with this whole 
region. '' Here, at the end of the plain Bl Bati- 
hah, this bold headland marks the spot, according 
to my topography, where the five thousand were 
fed. From the four narratives of this stupendous 
miracle we gather, ist, that the place belonged to 
Bethsaida; 2d, that it was a desert place; 3d, that 
it was near the shore of the lake, for they came 
to it by boat; 4th, that there was a mountain close 
at hand; 5th, that it was a smooth, grassy spot, 
capable of seating many thousand people. Now 
all these requisites are found in this exact locality 
and nowhere else, so far as I can discover. This 



PIIYSICAIv COINCIDKNCKS. 27 

Batihah belonged to Bethsaida. At this extreme 
southeast corner of it the mountain shuts down 
upon the lake bleak and barren. It was doubt- 
less desert then as now, for it is not capable of 
cultivation. In this little cove the boats were 
anchored. On this beautiful sward at the base of 
the rocky hill the people were seated to receive 
from the hands of the Son of God the miraculous 
bread. ' ' 

Land of GennESArkt. — Immediately after 
the above miracle and about sunset the disciples, 
at their Master's command, set out to return in 
their boat to Capernaum, but a violent wind 
springing up in the night drove them out of their 
course, during which Jesus joined them, walking 
on the sea, and in the morning they reached the 
shore in the land of Gennesaret at a point some 
little distance south of Capernaum. The situa- 
tion and features of this land, a rich and beautiful 
little plain, are so definitely and clearly described 
by Josephus and others as to identify it for ever 
with what is at present called El Ghuweir. ''Not 
the slightest question can arise," says Prof. Tris- 
tram, ' ' as to the identification of Gennesaret with 
the modern El Ghuweir.'' 

MagdalA. — ''Having sent the multitude 
away, he took ship and came to the coasts of Mag- 
dala." This was the home of Mary, whose brief 



28' NATURAI, I,AWS AND GOSPKI. Te:aCHINGS. 

but touching story is familiar in every Christian 
land. It was situated in the southeast corner of 
the plain of Gennesaret, and there its site is still 
marked by ruins and a few miserable hovels. Its 
present name is Mejdel. 

TiBKRiAS. — This in the time of the Saviour 
was a city of royal magnificence, having been 
built by Herod Antipas in honor of the Emperor 
Tiberius. Its site is now occupied by the modern 
town Tabariyeh, where abundant traces of its an- 
cient grandeur may be seen in sculptured granite 
and broken columns half buried in the rubbish. 

NAin. — During his ministry in the neighbor- 
hood of the Sea of Galilee our Saviour made sev- 
eral excursions to the surrounding cities and vil- 
lages. On one occasion he left Capernaum and 
went as far as Nain in Galilee, twenty-five miles 
distant. ^'Now when he came nigh to the gate 
of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried 
out, the only son of his mother, and she was a 
widow; and much people of the city was with 
her. And when the Lord saw her he had com- 
passion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And 
he came and touched the bier, and they that bare 
him stood still. And he said. Young man, I say 
unto thee. Arise. And he that was dead sat up and 
began to speak." The site of this village is and 
always has been well known; it is on the north- 



PHYSICAI, COINCIDENCES. 2g 

western edge of tlie hill called Jebel ed-Duliy. 
Its name Nain, now Nein, means ^^fair," and its 
situation, nestling picturesquely on the hill-slopes 
of the graceful mountain and full in view of Ta- 
bor and the heights of Zebulun, justify the flat- 
tering title. The entrance to the village must 
always have been up the steep and rocky ascent 
from the plain; and here the Saviour w^ith tlie 
multitude that followed him met the sad proces- 
sion issuing from the gate to bury the young man 
outside the walls, as is still the custom of the peo- 
ple. On the east side the rock is full of ancient 
sepulchral caves, to one of which doubtless the 
body of the young man was now being carried 
for burial. The whole pathetic narrative is in 
complete accord with the character of the place as 
seen at this day. 

Tyre and Sidon. — On another occasion we 
read that Jesus, perhaps seeking both safety and 
repose, ^/Svithdrew into the parts of Tyre and 
Sidon." The existence and the sites of these two 
ancient cities of Phoenicia have always been too 
well known to require proof. Their ruins still 
remain and are familiar to the traveller. From 
Capernaum the former is distant in a straight line 
about 35 miles, and the latter about 47 miles. 
The only incident mentioned in connection with 
this excursion is the healing of the daughter of a 



30 NATURAI, I.AWS AND GOSPI^I. TEACHINGS. 



(( 



Syroplioeuician woman," or, as Matthew terms 
her, ''a woman of Canaan." The terms Canaan 
and Phoenicia had succeeded one another as geo- 
graphical names of the same district of country, 
and, as we learn from ancient authors, Phoeni- 
cians were often called Canaanites. Thus the 
gospel narratives are in perfect harmony with 
both geography and history. 

C^SAREA Phiuppi. — Towards the close of 
his labors by the lake our Lord made his way 
northward, preaching the gospel till he came to 
'*the coasts of Caesarea Philippi." This city is 
very fully described by Josephus and is spoken of 
by others, so that it has always been readily iden- 
tified. Its site is indicated by Greek inscriptions 
in the face of the rock that are not yet obliterated 
and by the remains of a fortress which stood there 
at the time of our Saviour's visit. Its original 
name was Paneas, and at present it is called 
Banias. Behind it rose the towering heights of 
Hermon, whither ^^he led his disciples up into a 
high mountain apart and was transfigured before 
them." Descending thence he healed a lunatic 
boy, and soon after returned again to Capernaum, 
which was by the sea. 

The Great Tempests. — In the course of his 
ministry Christ and his disciples had frequent 
occasion to cross the lake, and twice, we read, 



PHYSICAI, COINCIDKNCKS. 3I 

tliey were overtaken by a sudden and perilous 
storm. To sucli tempests, in consequence of its 
physical situation and surroundings, it has ever 
been and still is subject. This lake is situated in 
a deep depression, its surface being 650 feet below 
that of the Mediterranean, and in consequence its 
climate a good part of the year is almost tropical. 
Directly northeast and at no great distance are the 
snow-capped heights of Hermon ; and in certain 
atmospheric conditions the cold and heavy air of 
that region sinks and rushes down through the 
ravines to displace the heated and light air of the 
lake basin, and in this way are often created sud- 
den and violent squalls upon its surface. Many 
modern travellers have actually witnessed its wa- 
ters thrown into just such commotion as the evan- 
gelists describe. *' Small as the Lake of Galilee 
is, and placid in general as a molten mirror," 
says Dr. Thomson, ''I have repeatedly seen it 
quiver and leap and boil like a cauldron when 
driven by fierce winds from the eastern moun- 
tains, and the waves ran high — high enough to 
fill or ^ cover ' the ships, as St. Matthew has it. 
In the midst of such a gale calmly slept the Son 
of God, in the hinder part of the ship, until awa- 
kened by the terrified disciples." 

We have now seen that wherever the gospel 
narratives place Jesus during his ministry in this 



32 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPEl. TEACHINGS. 

peculiar region, their representations to tlieir rtii- 
nutest particulars are always in entire harmony 
with what is known and seen to have been the 
natural state of things there. His abode at Caper- 
naum and his visits to the surrounding cities and 
villages, his teaching on the shores and in the 
synagogues, his miracles in the towns and in the 
desert, his intercourse with fishermen and tax- 
gatherers and centurions, the multitudes that 
thronged him in the streets and the storms that 
overtook him on the waters, his journeys and his 
voyages and retirements, are all not only in com- 
plete agreement with every physical feature of the 
region, but also stand so closely connected with 
and often so completely involved in the conditions 
of the localities as to offer visible and convincing 
evidence in support of the truth and correctnes-s 
of the gospel history. 

PER^a. — The Saviour's work being accom- 
plished in Galilee, he bade farewell to that busy 
theatre of life and set his face towards Jerusalem. 
Opposed and harassed there by his persistent and 
malicious enemies, the scribes and Pharisees, he 
left and retired to Persea, or that part of the coun- 
try lying east of the Jordan. There, as in Galilee, 
he labored to instruct the people and healed many 
of their sick. After the lapse of some four months, 
his time drawing nigh, he set out once more and 



PHYSICAL COINCIDKNCKS. 33 

for the last time for Jerusalem. Some of the pla- 
ces and several of the incidents connected with 
this journey are mentioned, all of which are found 
to be in perfect accord with what remains to be 
seen at this day. 

Jericho. — Having crossed the Jordan at 'Hhe 
fords,'' where it has been crossed ever since, w^e 
read that ''he drew nigh unto Jericho." This 
city, of which some faint ruins still remain, was 
then a place of wealth and grandeur, and in which 
was one of the princely residences of Herod the 
Great. It lay exactly on the Saviour's road to 
Jerusalem. At this time, we are told, there lived 
in Jericho one ' ' Zacchaeus, who was the chief 
among the publicans;" and here, as Josephus in- 
forms us, was "a colony of publicans" estab^ 
lished to secure the revenues accruing from the 
large traffic in balsam, which grew more luxuri- 
antly in that hot district than in any other place, 
and to regulate the exports and imports between 
the Roman province and the dominions of Herod 
Antipas. Anxious to catch a view of Jesus, who 
was encompassed by a crowd, " Zacchaeus ran be- 
fore and climbed up into a sycamore-tree to see 
him." The balsam and also the palm have utter- 
ly perished from this plain, but of the sycamore a 
remnant still remains. "We w^ere gratified," 
says Prof Tristram,, who was there in 1864, "by 

Natural Laws. "2 



34 NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

tlie discovery that, though scarce, it is not quite 
extinct in the plain of Jericho, as we found two 
aged trees in the little ravine just to the south of 
these ruins in illustration of the gospel narra- 
tive." 

The Ascent to Jerusalem. — Ivcaving Jeri- 
cho, "He went before, ascending up to Jerusa- 
lem," and a rough and continuous ''ascent" it 
was for some five or six hours. The site of Jeri- 
cho is 650 feet below the level of the Mediterra- 
nean, and the summit of the Mount of Olives over 
which he must pass is 2,725 feet above that level; 
hence the entire ascent in a distance of 14 or 15 
miles was no less than 3,375 feet. 

Bethany. — Having passed through the deep 
and dismal gorge of Wady Kelt, along which the 
road led, and climbed at length to the height of 
its rocky ascent, "then came Jesus to Bethany." 
This village, according to the sacred narratives, 
was on the Mount of Olives, on the great thor- 
oughfare from the Jordan valley to the capital, at 
the head of the ascent above Jericho, and at the 
distance of fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem. And 
precisely at this well-defined spot there has been 
a village through all the Christian centuries, and 
there is a little village there still, which has been 
visited and identified by scores of recent travel- 
lers. Its name, however, has been changed into 



PHYSICAI. COINCIDENCES. 35 

El A2;ariyeli, In commemoration of Lazarus, whom 
the Lord here called forth from his tomb. 

Mount of OuvKS. — This lies Immediately 
east of Jerusalem, and there has never existed a 
doubt concerning its identity. At Bethany, on 
the eastern side of Its summit, Jesus tarried on 
this occasion over one night, and In the morning, 
attended by a great multitude, he set out for the 
holy city. The distance was only two short 
miles, and his way lay over the heights of Olivet 
and round Its southern shoulder. ''When he was 
come to the descent of the Mount of Olives " the 
whole multitude, we are told, began to rejoice and 
shout, ''Blessed be the King that cometh In the 
name of the Lord!^' And it was at this precise 
point on the road that the first glimpse vras caught 
of the southeastern corner of the city — just the 
sight which would naturally Inspire the people to 
this joyous and triumphant exclamation. 

"From this point," says Dean Stanley, who 
carefully surveyed and studied the whole ground, 
"the road descends a slight declivity, and the 
glimpse of the city Is again withdrawn behind 
the Intervenlnof ridofe. A few moments and the 
path mounts; again it climbs a rugged ascent, It 
reaches a ledge of smooth rock, and in an Instant 
the whole city bursts Into view. The temple 
tower rises as from the earth, the temple courts 



36 NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPKL TKACHINGS. 

Spread out, and the whole magnificent city, with 
its background of gardens and suburbs on the 
western plateau behind, lies before the view. It 
is hardly possible to doubt that this rise and turn 
of the road, this rocky ledge, was the exact spot 
where the multitude paused again, and ^ He, 
when he beheld the city, wept over it.' Nowhere 
else on the Mount of Olives is there a view like 
this. And this is almost the only unmarked 
spot — undefiled or unhallowed by mosque or 
church, chapel or tower — left to speak for itself 
that here the Lord's feet stood and here his eyes 
beheld what is still the most impressive view 
which the neighborhood of Jerusalem furnishes — 
and the tears rushed forth at the sight." 

KiDRON. — Again the procession advanced, and 
descending from this brow of Olivet, Christ, with 
the exultant multitude around him, in a few min- 
utes reached "the brook Kidron," crossed it, and 
then passed up into Jerusalem through one of its 
eastern gates. The road still follows that shel- 
ving descent, and still that channel of Kidron, 
generally dry, must be crossed to reach and enter 
the city. 

GkthsEmanK. — While at Jerusalem our Lord, 
we read, often left the noise and excitement of 
the city and sought rest and retirement in " the 
Garden of Gethsemane." He did so on the very 



PHYSICAI. COINCIDENCES. 37 

last evening of his life. ''When Jesus had spo- 
ken these words he went forth over the brook 
Kidron, where was a garden, into the w^hich he en- 
tered and his disciples." There, in the midnight 
watch, he offered prayer ''with strong crying and 
tears. ' ' There he sweat "as it were great drops 
of blood falling down to the ground.'' And there 
too it w^as that his perfidious disciple betrayed 
him into the hands of his enemies; "for Judas 
knew the place, as Jesus ofttimes resorted thither 
with his disciples." Now the gospel narratives 
point to the Garden of Gethsemane as lying east of 
Jerusalem, a short distance from the city w^all, on 
the other side of Kidron, and at the foot of the 
Mount of Olives. And just here we find a spot^ 
now marked by eight aged olive-trees, w^hich, from 
the middle of the fourth century at least, has been 
uniformly pointed out and looked upon as the 
very site of the "garden" in w^hich the Saviour 
of the w^orld endured his mortal agony. After the 
most careful study of the Gospels and examina- 
tion of the place, this spot is found to fulfil all 
the conditions of these narratives. Tischendorf, 
the distinguished Biblical scholar of Germany, 
tells us that he finds this traditional locality "in 
perfect harmony with all that w^e learn from the 
evangelists." And Prof. Hackett says, "We 
may sit down there and read the narrative of 



38 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPKIv TEACHINGS. 

what the Saviour endured for our redemption, and 
feel assured that we are near the place where he 
prayed, 'saying, Father, not my will, but thine, 
be done. ' ' ' 

We have now followed the footsteps of the 
Saviour from the beginning to the close of his 
eventful life; we have visited and contemplated 
the place of his nativity, the refuge of his infancy, 
the home of his childhood and youth, the place 
of his baptism and of his temptation, the scene of 
his ministry in Galilee, his visitations to surround- 
ing cities, his retirement to the region beyond 
Jordan, the road he travelled and the localities 
through which he passed on his last return to Je- 
rusalem to be offered up a sacrifice for the sin of 
the world; and in all these different and widely 
separated scenes we have found the most complete 
agreement, in every particular instance, between 
the statements and allusions of the Gospels and 
what may be seen and examined at the present 
day; and not only this, but also that the deeds 
and discourses ascribed to the Saviour are closely 
related to the very localities where they are said 
to have taken place, and could not have transpired 
anywhere else or among any other people or in 
any other age. And in all this we have clear and 
convincing evidence that in the four Gospels we 
have a correct narrative of the movements and 



PHYSICAL COTNCIDKNCKS. 39 

doings of a true and living man, who spoke and 
acted and travelled as related in them. 

II. COINCIDENCE AS TO VEGETATION. 

The teachings of Jesus Christ as related in the 
Gospels abound in parables, figures, and similes 
drawn from the soil and scenery, the natural pro- 
ductions and living tenants, of the country in 
which he taught. And concerning these Dr. W. 
M. Thomson, who resided in Palestine for a quar- 
ter of a century, makes this general statement: 
*' All the parables and illustrations and compari- 
sons of Jesus are perfectly natural and appropriate 
to the country, the people, the age, and every oth- 
er circumstance mentioned or implied in the evan- 
gelical narratives. We have the originals still be- 
fore us. The teachings and illustrations of our 
Lord would have been out of place in any other 
country except this. They could not have been 
uttered anywhere else." An examination of par- 
ticulars fully sustains this statement, as we shall 
now see. 

Lilies of the Field.— Modern travellers 
have often noticed the beauty and abundance of 
spring flowers in Palestine. And it was at this 
season of the year that our Saviour in his Sermon 
on the Mount referred to the ** lilies." Variega- 
ted tulips, purple and red gladioli, and scarlet 



40 NATURAI. I.AWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINGS. 

anemones (to which the common name sliusan^ 
''lilies," was applied) abounded on the plain of 
Gennesaret and covered the hillsides around the 
great Teacher and his listening throng* Hence 
wx see how natural it was for him to point to 
these and say, ''Consider the lilies of the field, 
how they grow; they toil not, neither do they 
spin; and yet I say unto you that even Solomon 
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." 
Wheat. — The first recorded parable of our 
Lord is that of the "sower," every word of which 
is in perfect agreement with what may be seen in 
the land to-day. " As I rode along the track im- 
der the hillside by which the plain of Gennesaret 
is approached," says Dean Stanley, "a slight re- 
cess in the hill, close upon the plain, disclosed at 
once in detail every feature of the great parable. 
There was the undulating corn-field descending to 
the water's edge. There was the 'trodden path- 
way' running through the midst of it, with no 
hedge or fence to prevent the seed from falling 
here and there on either side of it or upon it, itself 
hard from the constant tramp of horse and mule 
and human feet. There was the ' good rich soil ' 
which distinguishes the whole of that plain and 
its neighborhood from the bare hills elsewhere de- 
scending into the lake, and which, where there is 
no interruption, produces one vast mass- of corn. 



PHYSICAI, COINCIDKNCKS. 41 

There was the ^ rocky ground' of the hillside 
here and there protruding through the corn-fields 
as elsewhere through the grassy slopes. There 
were the large bushes of ' thorns ' springing up in 
the very midst of the waving wheat. The illus- 
tration was complete." 

Nor is the above to be regarded as a solitary 
coincidence; the same has often been observed in 
other parts. Travelling along the northern bor- 
ders of Galilee, Dr. Thomson makes this observ^a- 
tion: *' Our path is leading us into the midst of a 
very lively agricultural scene. The parable about 
sowing has here its illustration even in its mi- 
nutest details. ^ Behold, a sower went forth to 
sow.' There is a nice and close adherence to 
actual life in this form of expression. The words 
imply that the sower, in the days of our Saviour, 
lived in a hamlet, and these people have actually 
come forth all the way from yonder village to the 
open country. Here there are no fences; the path 
passes through the cultivated land; the thorns 
grow in clumps all around ; the rocks peep out in 
places through the scanty soil ; and hard by are 
also patches extremely fertile. Now, here we 
have all the four kinds of earth within a dozen 
rods of us. Our horses are actually trampling 
down some seeds which have fallen by this way- 
side, and larks and sparrows are busy picking 



42 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINGS. 

tliem up. That man with his mattock is digging 
about the places where the rock is too near the sur- 
face for the plough, and much that is sown there 
will wither away because it has no deepness of 
earth. And not a few seeds have fallen among 
this bellan^ and will be effectually choked by this 
most tangled of thorn-bushes. But a large por- 
tion, after all, falls into really good ground, and 
four months hence will exhibit every variety of 
crop up to the richest and heaviest that ever re- 
joices the heart even of an American farmer. 
Certainly nothing could be more to the point than 
this illustration. We doubtless are now looking 
upon the very facts which suggested to Him who 
taught in parables the instructive lesson of the 
sower.'' 

Tares. — The parable of the tares among the 
wheat is equally true to nature. This sets forth 
three natural facts, all of which are verified by 
observation, i. That the soil of Palestine pro- 
duces zizania^ or tares. For this we have the tes- 
timony of unnumbered travellers. Tares abound 
in that country and are a great nuisance to the 
farmers at the present day. 2. That they are in- 
jurious and therefore to be carefully weeded out. 
The taste is bitter, and when eaten separately or 
even diffused in ordinary bread they cause dizzi- 
ness and often act as a violent emetic. It becomes 



PHYSICAL COINCIDKNCES. 43 

necessary, therefore, as implied 111 the parable, to 
separate them carefully from the wheat or barley 
where they are found. 3. That in the earlier 
stage of their growth they cannot easily be dis- 
tinguished from the growing grain in the midst 
of which they are found ; but in the latter stage 
the difference becomes apparent. '^Let me call 
your attention to these tares," says Dr. Thomson, 
*' which are growing among the barley. The 
grain is just in the proper stage of development 
to illustrate the parable. In those parts where 
the grain has headed out the tares have done the 
same, and there a child cannot mistake them for 
wheat or barley; but where both are less devel- 
oped the closest scrutiny w^ill often fail to detect 
them. 'When the blade was sprung up and 
brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.' 
Even the farmers, who in this country generally 
w^eed their fields, do not attempt to separate the 
one from the other in the early stage of their 
growth. They would not only mistake good 
grain for them, but very commonly the roots of 
the two are so intertwined that it is impossible to 
separate them without plucking up both. For 
this reason it is said, ' I^et both grow together un- 
til the time of harvest.' " Dean Stanley, Capt 
Wilson, and other travellers relate that they saw 
women and children busily engaged in picking 



44 NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPKIv TEACHINGS. 

out the tares from the wheat in the grain-fields of 
Samaria and other parts. So true both to nature 
and the practice of the people is this instructive 
parable. 

Mustard Plant. — Several references to this 
plant are made in the Gospels, and one express 
parable is based upon it, in which also are three 
natural facts introduced, i. The si^e of the seed: 
'4he least of all seeds.'' It is a small seed, but 
not ''the least of seeds;" the words are hyper- 
bolical. '' Small as a grain of mustard seed" was 
and still is a familiar and proverbial expression 
among Orientals, and our Lord in popular teach- 
ing adhered to popular language. 2. The size of 
the plant: ''when it is grown it is the greatest 
among herbs and becometh a tree." In compar- 
ison with other garden growths it is said to be- 
come a "tree;" at the same time it is expressly 
stated to be an "herb." In Palestine it attains 
the form and size of a small tree. Travellers have 
met with it in several parts of the country as high 
as their heads on horseback. Prof. Hackett came 
across a little forest of these trees in the neighbor- 
hood of Mt. Carmel which measured from seven 
to nine feet in height. 3. It is said to be a favor- 
ite resort of birds: "so that the birds of the air 
come and lodge in the branches thereof" We 
are informed by numerous authorities that birds 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. 45 

are particularly fond of the seed and may often 
be seen settling in great numbers on the branches. 
Hence we see that the parable of the mustard- 
seed, while it adheres closely to nature, is at the 
same time an apt and forcible representation of 
the growth of the Christian religion from its small 
beginning. 

The Vine. — Frequent mention is made of the 
vine in the course of the gospel narratives. And 
Prof. Tristram, in his natural history, says, ''Pal- 
estine is the true climate of the vine. The rocky 
hillsides, with their light gravelly soil and sunny 
exposures, the heat of summer, and the rapid 
drainage of the winter rains, all combine to render 
it peculiarly a land of vines. The hill country 
presents in combination all the features character- 
istic of the choicest wine districts of the Rhine, of 
France and Spain; and not only Judah, but all 
the land from Lebanon to Beersheba, was once 
clad on every hill with terraced vineyards, which 
have left behind them the traces of their existence 
in the wine-presses and vats hewn in the rocks." 

The vineyard supplies the groundwork of an- 
other of our Lord's parables: ''There was a cer- 
tain householder who planted a vineyard and 
hedged it round about and digged a wine-press in 
it and built a tower and let it out to husband- 
men." One of the most strikine features in the 



46 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

scenery of Southern Palestine at tlie present time 
is the vineyard inclosure surrounded by loose 
stone walls with a gray, square tower in one cor- 
ner. ^' These may be seen to-day," says Dean 
Stanley, ''as of old, on the slopes of Hebron, of 
Bethlehem, and of Olivet." 

Fig-tree. — This is one of the native fruit- 
trees of Palestine and is found wild or culti- 
vated in every part of it. It is mentioned in the 
Gospels in different connections. Under the shade 
of a fig-tree Nathanael sought seclusion, probably 
for prayer, and thought he was screened from all 
human observation, when the Saviour said to him, 
"When thou wast under the fig-tree I saw thee." 
And Tristram says, ' ' There is no protection against 
the rays of an Eastern sun more complete than the 
dense foliage of the fig-tree." 

Our Ivord speaks of ''a fig-tree planted in a 
vineyard" which proved fruitless, and reads from 
it one of his most interesting and instructive par- 
ables. And travellers tell us that nothing is more 
common in Palestine to this day than fig-trees 
and other fruit-trees planted among vines. ''In 
some parts," says Tristram, "the fig-tree is cul- 
tivated as a sole crop, but more frequently it is 
mingled with other orchard fruits, especially with 
the vines, where the corners and irregular pieces 
of ground are generally occupied by a fig-tree." 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. 47 

On a certain occasion we read that tlie Saviour 
on his way from Bethany **saw a fig-tree in the 
way and came to it and found thereon nothing 
but leaves." And Dean Stanley, passing over 
the same route, says, ''The fig-tree still remains 
here and there on the roadside." Figs appear 
before the leaves. 

PAI.M- TREES. — In the early ages palm-trees 
were plentiful in many parts of Palestine. The 
Mount of Olives continued to be graced by them 
to the time of our Saviour, for on his last and tri- 
umphant entry into Jerusalem we read that ''the 
people took branches of palms and went forth to 
meet him." On the mount itself they have now 
died out, but several fine ancient trees still wave 
close by among the buildings of the city. 

Sycamore. — This tree is repeatedly mentioned 
in the Gospels. It is not to be confounded with 
our commonly called sycamore, or plane-tree, 
which resembles it only in the shape of its leaves. 
The sycamore of the New Testament is an ever- 
green and bears a species of figs. It is still found 
in the mild climate of the maritime plains of 
Phoenicia and Sharon, and also in the hot Jordan 
valley. " In form," says Tristram, " it resembles 
the English oak, with low spreading branches 
and dark foliage. It is very easy to climb, with 
its short trunk and its wide lateral branches fork- 



48 NATURAIv LAWS AND GOSPEL TKACHINGS. 

iiig out in all directions, and would naturally be 
selected by Zacchaeus as the most accessible posi- 
tion from which to obtain a view of our I^ord as 
he passed. There are still a few gnarled and 
aged sycamores among the ruins by the wayside 
of ancient Jericho and by the channel of the Wady 
Kelt." 

Thus we see that all the statements made by 
the evangelists concerning the vegetable produc- 
tions of the land in connection with our Lord's 
ministry are perfectly natural and in complete 
agreement with what the traveller finds there at 
the present day. Not a tree or a shrub or a flow- 
er or a blade stands in disharmony with their nar- 
ratives. On the contrary, so far as these can bear 
witness at all, they attest their correctness and 
truth in every particular and on all occasions. 

III. COINCIDENCE AS TO LIVING CREATURES. 

Many of the illustrations and parables em- 
ployed by the Saviour in teaching the people 
were drawn from the character and habits of the 
animals inhabiting the country, animals with 
which they were all familiar. And the living 
descendants of those animals stand forth to-day as 
so many witnesses for the accuracy and fidelity of 
the four gospel histories. 

Fishes. — From the earliest times the Sea of 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. 49 

Galilee was celebrated for Its fisheries; and sev- 
eral of our Lord's disciples were fishermen, who 
pursued their vocation on that lake. The nar- 
ratives of the evangelists represent this sea as 
abounding in fish of various kinds. Thus we 
read: ''When they had let down the net they in- 
closed a great multitude of fishes, and their net 
brake." On another occasion it is said, "They 
cast the net on the right side of the ship, and now 
they were not able to draw it for the multitude of 
fishes." This lake still abounds in a great variety 
of fishes. Prof. Tristram, who speaks from long 
and personal observation, says, ' ' The density of 
the shoals of fish in the Sea of Galilee can scarcely 
be conceived by those who have not witnessed 
them. Frequently these shoals cover an acre or 
more of surface, and the fish, as they slowly move 
along in masses, are so crowded, with their back 
fins just appearing on the level of the w^ater, 
that the appearance at a little distance is that 
of a violent shower of rain pattering on the sur- 
face." 

Our Lord grounds a parable on the various 
"kinds" of fishes drawn up from these waters: 
" The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that 
was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind, 
which, when it was full, they drew to shore and 
sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but 

Natural Laws. A 



50 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

cast the bad away." A great variety of fishes, 
''clean and unclean," are still found in this lake, 
and the same operation of sorting may still be 
witnessed going on on its shore; and in proof we 
again quote Mr. Tristram: *'We obtained four- 
teen species from this lake, and probably the num- 
ber inhabiting it is three times as great. The 
greater number taken are rejected by the fisher- 
men, and I have sat with them on the gunwale 
while they went through their net and threw out 
into the sea those that were too small for the 
market or were considered vmclean. This custom 
brings out in great force the full bearing of the 
parable, which is scarcely illustrated by any inci- 
dent in our English fisheries." 

Scorpions. — These venomous creatures are 
spoken of by Christ as objects that were familiar 
to his disciples: ''Will he for an egg offer him a 
scorpion?" "I give you power to tread on ser- 
pents and scorpions." And, according to both 
Thomson and Tristram, they swarm in every part 
of Palestine, and the latter says that "in the 
w^armer parts of the country every third stone is 
sure to conceal one. ' ' 

Sparrows. — Among the Jews these little birds 
were used as a common article of food, as they are 
still in the East; and our Saviour speaks of them 
as being so abundant and so easily taken that two 



niYSICAI^ COINCIDENCES. 5I 

of tliem were sold '* for a farthing.^' And in few 
countries of the world to-day are sparrows more 
numerous than in Palestine. ''The trees and even 
the shrubs," says Dr. Thomson, "are stuffed full 
of their nests.'' 

Ravens. — Our Lord cites the raven as man- 
ifesting the providential care of God: ''Consider 
the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap, which 
neither have storehouse nor bam, and God feed- 
eth them. How much more are ye better than 
the fowls!" Of the ravens in Palestine Prof. 
Tristram says, ' ' They are present everywhere to 
the eye and ear, and the odors that float around 
remind us of their use. Their food is scanty and 
precarious, as may be seen by their habit of flying 
restlessly about in constant search for it." And 
yet ' ' God feedeth them. ' ' 

Eagles. — Eagles and vultures of various spe- 
cies have always been and still are numerous in 
Palestine, particularly the grifibns. These are 
employed by our Lord to indicate the rapid gath- 
ering and descent of the Roman armies upon the 
corrupt body of the Jewish nation: "Wheresoever 
the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered 
together. ' ' No figure could be more true to na- 
ture or more forcibly express the event than this. 
The distinguished naturalist just quoted, in his 
description of these raptorial birds, says, "The 



53 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINCxS. 

number of griffons in every part of Palestine is 
amazing, and they are found at all seasons of the 
year. These birds detect their food by sight, not 
by scent. If an animal falls at night, it is not 
attacked till daylight, but if it fall or be slaugh- 
tered after sunrise, though the human eye may 
scan the firmament for one in vain, within five 
minutes a speck will appear overhead and, wheel- 
ing and circling in a rapid downward flight, a 
huge griffon will pounce on the carcass. In a few 
minutes a second and a third will dart down; an- 
other and another follow, till the air is darkened 
by the crowd, thus verifying the words, ^ Where- 
soever the carcass is, there will the eagles be 
gathered together.' " 

Doves. — The dove is notably a gentle and in- 
nocent bird. Our lyord refers to it as a type of 
what the Christian's character should be: ''Be ye 
wise as serpents arid harmless as doves." For 
the same reasons it is employed as an emblem of 
the Holy Spirit, "descending like a dove." At 
this day in Syria, as travellers inform us, the dove 
is the invariable companion of man wherever he 
has a settled habitation. "When travelling in 
the north of Syria," says Dr. Thomson, "I no- 
ticed in the villages tall, square buildings without 
roofs, whose walls were pierced inside by num- 
berless pigeon-holes ; in these nestled and bred 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. 53 

tliousands of these birds. They are reared by the 
rich and the poor. ' ' 

The Hen. — This fowl, as we learn from rab- 
binical and other sources, w^as intimately con- 
nected with the Jewish household, and her natural 
habits, therefore, were familiar to all. One of the 
most remarkable of her actions is the peculiar 
note she utters to bid her chickens run and hide 
imder her wings at the sight of a bird of prey. 
Hence w^e see how^ natural and how touching the 
figure which Jesus employs to express his tender 
anxiety to save Jerusalem from the swoop of the 
Roman eagle: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how 
often would I have gathered thy children together, 
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wings, and ye would not !" 

To the hen the cock is nearly related, w^hose 
crowinof is mentioned more than once in the 
Gospels: ^'Before the cock crow twice thou 
shalt deny me thrice." The times of crowing 
were reo^arded as correct indications of the hour 
of night. The regularity with which this fowl 
crowds during the night in the East has been no- 
ticed by many travellers. Arundell says, '^I have 
often heard the cocks of Smyrna crowing in full 
chorus, with scarcely the variation of a minute." 
And Tristram: '^ We were particularly struck by 
this in Beirut, where, during the first week of 



54 NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPE;Iv 'CACHINGS. 

our stay, we were regularly awakened three times 
every night by the sudden crowing of the cocks 
on the roof of the hotel." 

Sheep. — The principal characteristics of Pal- 
estine sheep are set forth in the following passage: 
'* He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd 
of the sheep; the sheep hear his voice; and he 
calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them 
out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep 
he goeth before them and the sheep follow him, 
for they know his voice. And a stranger will 
they not follow, but ^ill flee from him, for they 
know not the voice of strangers," All this is 
natural and true to the letter, as may be seen in 
that country to-day. ''The Eastern shepherd," 
says Tristram, ''never drives, but always leads 
his sheep." Hartley, in his "Researches," re- 
lates this incident: " Passing by a flock of sheep, 
I asked the shepherd if it was usual to give names 
to sheep. He replied that it was, I then bade 
him call one of his sheep. He did so, and it in- 
stantly left its pasturage and companions and ran 
up to his hand with signs of pleasure." And Dr. 
Thomson, in his " Ivand and Book," has this pas- 
sage: " It is necessary the sheep should be taught 
to follow and not to stray away into the unfenced 
fields of corn which lie so temptingly on either 
side. Any one that thus wanders is sure to get 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCHS. 55 

into trouble. The shepherd calls sharply from 
time to time to remind them of his presence. 
They know his voice and follow on; but if a 
stranger call, they stop short, lift up their heads 
in alarm, and if it is repeated, they turn and flee, 
because they know^ not the voice of a stranger. 
This is not the fanciful costume of a parable; it is 
simple fact. I have made the experiment repeat- 
edly." 

Goats. — In his discourse portraying the final 
judgment our Lord represents goats and sheep as 
forming one mixed flock: '' He shall separate 
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth 
his sheep from the goats." Goats are still plenti- 
ful in Palestine, and concerning them Tristram 
has this passage: ^'The hilly district running up 
through the centre of Western Palestine is well 
adapted for goats, and in this country the sheep 
and goats are always seen together under the same 
shepherd and in company." 

Wolves. — The name of these animals occurs 
in several of the Saviour's discourses, but always 
with reference to their fierce and treacherous char- 
acter. * ' Wolves in sheep's clothing. " ^ ^ I send you 
forth as lambs among wolves." ^^An hireling, 
whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf com- 
ing and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf 
catcheththem and scattereth the sheep." Wolves 



56 NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPKI. TKACHINGS. 

Still inhabit Palestine and still exhibit the same 
character. Prof. Tristram, in his explorations of 
the country, repeatedly met with them and relates 
two encounters with them. ''In the hill country 
of Benjamin, about Bethel and Gibeah," he says, 
''the wolves still raven. We found them alike in 
the forests of Bashan and Gilead, in the ravines 
of Galilee and Lebanon, and hi the maritime 
plains. Their boldness is very remarkable. The 
wolf is now, as of old, the dread of the shepherds 
of Palestine." 

The Ass. — The most notable mention of this 
animal in the gospel narratives is that in connec- 
tion with our Lord's triumphant entry into Jeru- 
salem: "And Jesus, when he had found a young 
ass, sat thereon." This patient creature is to be 
seen everywhere in Palestine, performing the 
same service at the present day. " In the East," 
says Prof. J. G. Wood, "the ass is the universal 
saddle-animal. It is fed and groomed like the 
horse, and is ridden by persons of the highest 
rank. " 

Thus we see that all the animals named or re- 
ferred to in the Gospels still inhabit the land, and 
not only that, but also exhibit the same traits of 
character and habits as are there ascribed to them. 
As with the topography and vegetation of the 
country, so with its living tenants, there is the 



PIIYSICAI, C0INCIDKNCE:S. 57 

most complete correspondence between what is 
presented on the gospel page and what is seen on 
the face of nature at the present time. There to- 
day we behold unmistakably the originals of the 
Saviour's parables and illustrations. Fish and 
fowl and beast stand forth before us as so many 
living witnesses, so far as they are concerned, for 
the correctness and truth of what the evangelists 
relate. The testimony could not be more indis- 
putable, the harmony could not be more com- 
plete, and the lessons could not be more natural 
or appropriate. 

IV. COINCIDENCE AS TO CLIMATE. 

The climate of Palestine in different districts 
varies according to their altitude. The references 
made to it in the Gospels are few and general, but 
as far as they go they are found to agree perfectly 
w^ith modern observations as registered for years 
at Jerusalem and other points. 

Thunder and Lightning. — These meteoro- 
logical phenomena are once and again mentioned 
in the sacred narratives, but in a very general 
way, yet with sufficient definiteness to indicate 
that they were well-known occurrences: ^^As the 
lightning cometh out of the east and shineth unto 
the w^est." *'The people that stood by and heard 
it said that it thundered." In Palestine thunder, 



58 NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPKlv TEACHINGS. 

while rarely heard in summer, is not uncommon 
in winter. Robinson, Porter, Tristram, and others 
record that they witnessed severe thunder-storms 
in different parts of the country. 

Wind and Rain. — A storm of this kind is a 
frequent occurrence during the winter half of the 
year. Our Ivord's quick and discerning mind saw 
in the traces left behind by one of these the fol- 
lowing striking and impressive illustration, with 
which he closes his Sermon on the Mount: '^ Ev- 
ery one that heareth these sayings of mine and 
doeth them not shall be likened to a foolish man 
who built his house upon the sand. And the 
rain descended and the floods came and the winds 
blew and beat Upon that house, and it fell; and 
great was the fall of it. " Dr. H. J. Van lycnnep, 
who spent nearly a lifetime in Western Asia, says, 
''The rains here, though comparatively infre- 
quent, are copious and heavy while they last. 
The uneven surface of the country, presenting 
steep hillsides furrowed by deep valleys, occasions 
during a storm the rapid gathering of waters to a 
single channel, so that mighty torrents suddenly 
appear rushing along through gorges where not a 
drop of water trickled an hour before. These 
pour down with irresistible force, often tearing 
away the ground and sweeping trees and all else 
before them. Houses erected near their track are 



niYSICAL COINCIDICNCKS. 59 

in imminent danger of being undermined and car- 
ried away by these angry floods.'' Rae Wilson 
gives a similar account of these heavy and sudden 
rain-storms in Palestine. 

C1.0UDS AND Heat. — Our Lord refers to these 
in the following words: ''When ye see a cloud 
rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There 
Cometh a shower, and so it is." In Palestine the 
westerly winds, or those passing over the great 
Mediterranean, bring most of the rains that fall 
there. '' In the forty-three days," says Tristram, 
*' during which rain fell in 1863-4, the w^ind was 
invariably west or southwest." "And when ye 
see the south wdnd blow, ye say. There will be 
heat, and it cometh to pass." The south wind, 
or that sweeping over the arid sands and deserts 
of Arabia, always brings the oppressive heat of 
the sirocco, so stifling to man and beast. "The 
south wind," says the authority just quoted, "is 
always oppressive, at whatever time of the year 
it blows. We had two days' sirocco with the 
south wind in November; again on January 14 
and 15, March i and 2, April 21 and 25, May 15, 
16, 26, and 27. These were the only occasions 
^11 w^hich there was south wind, and on each oc- 
casion the sirocco was most oppressive." "Ye 
hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and 
of the earth, but how is it that ye do not discern 



6o NATURAL I.AWS AND GOSPEI. TEACHINGS. 

this time?'' This reference to rain and heat could 
be true in no other country than Judoea and the 
adjacent region; this reproof could be applicable 
to no other people than the Jews; and it could 
have been administered by no other than one ac- 
quainted with both. Taken as related by the 
evangelist, all is consistent and all is true and 
perfectly natural. 

V. CONCLUSION. 

Here we close our survey of the land, the 
scene of the Saviour's life and ministry. We 
have followed his footsteps through its length and 
breadth and have examined and compared its fea- 
tures and conditions as to its geography, localities, 
vegetation, living tenants, and climatic changes 
with the statements of the sacred narratives and 
have found them in all these respects to be in 
entire harmony. Not a hill lifts its head, not a 
site exhibits a ruin, not a stream ripples in its 
channel, at the faintest disharmony with the his- 
tory they relate; not a tree or a vine or a flower 
or a w^eed springs out of its soil in contradiction 
to their statements; not a living creature cleaves 
its waters or roams over its fields or flies through 
its firmament at variance with their descrip- 
tions; nor do even the flitting clouds or the shift- 
ing winds exhibit any disagreement with their 



PHYSICAL coxncide:ncks. 6i 

representations. There is absolntely no discrep- 
ancy. 

Wherever the gospel history places the Sa- 
viour, whether on the water or on the land, in the 
city or in the desert place, the representations, to 
their minutest details, are always in accordance 
with what is known to be the natural state of 
thinofs there. All his recorded movements and 
journeys, as we have seen, are in perfect agree- 
ment with the geographical features and local 
sites of the country. All his labors and wonder- 
ful works are in harmony with the scene where 
they are said to have been enacted. All his illus- 
trations and parables are drawn from objects and 
operations that may be still seen in the land. 
Many of his discourses are so involved in the con- 
ditions and so intertwined wath the features and 
surroundings of the places where they are said to 
have been delivered that they could not have 
been spoken anywhere else. His comparisons and 
figures and similes are as indigenous to the coun- 
try as are its vines and lilies and fig-trees. His 
very thoughts and expressions take their cast and 
coloring from the scenes where the evangelists 
place him, scenes that remain to this day beneath 
the bright and broad sunlight. In a word, as the 
engraved seal fits into its own impression in the 
wax, so fits the gospel history into the form and 



63 NATURAI, I,AWS AND GOSPEI. TEACHINGS. 

features and conditions of the land in wliicli its 
divine subject lived and labored and died for the 
salvation of men. 

Prof. H. B. Tristram closes his journal of trav- 
els throughout Palestine, undertaken in company 
with a corps of scientific men, with special refer- 
ence to the Geology, Physical Geography, Botany 
and :2oology of the country, with the following 
unqualified and decisive testimony: ''The prima- 
ry object of our journey was the investigation of 
physical and natural history; not, however, to the 
exclusion of other objects of interest. We passed 
through the land with our Bibles in our hands — 
with, 1 trust, an unbiased determination to inves- 
tigate fads and their independent bearing on 
sacred history. While on matters of science the 
inspired writers speak in the ordinary language of 
their times (the only language wdiich could have 
been understood), I can bear testimony to the 
minute truth of innumerable incidental allusions 
in Holy Writ to the facts of nature, of climate, of 
geographical position — corroborations of Scrip- 
ture which, though trifling in themselves, reach 
to minute details that prove the writers to have 
lived when and where they are asserted to have 
lived, which attest their scrupulous accuracy in 
recording what they saw and observed around 
them, and which, therefore, must increase our 



PHYSICAI. COINCIDENCES. €3 

confidence in their veracity where we cannot 
have the like means of testing it. I can find no 
discrepancies between their geographical or physi- 
cal statements and the evidence of present facts. 
I can find no standpoint here for the keenest ad- 
vocate against the fnll inspiration of the scriptu- 
ral record. The Holy Land not only elucidates but 
bears witness to the truth of the Holy Book." 

The whole surface of the Judaea, Samaria, Gal- 
ilee, and Peraea of to-day is inscribed with a record 
that is indisputable. Even skeptics, after the 
most thorough examination of the ground for 
themselves, while they will not receive Christ 
with the heart or yield their minds to the domin- 
ion of the spiritual doctrines which he taught, 
find themselves constrained to admit that the 
gospel narratives are unquestionable records of 
actual events — of the travels and deeds and suf- 
ferings of the great Teacher of Nazareth. No 
opposer of the divine claims and miraculous works 
of Christ, now livings has more closely scrutinized 
or severely tested every statement, fact, and cir- 
cumstance embraced in the gospel histories than 
Renan, the French skeptic. To prepare himself 
for writing a ^ ^ lyife of Jesus ' ' he studied everything 
ancient and modern relating to the subject or 
having a bearing upon it. He even went to Pal- 
estine and spent years there to examine every- 



64 NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPElv TEACHINGS. 

thing visible for himself. He left no spot unvis- 
ited, no stone unturned. And of all this what 
was the result? At what conclusion did he arrive? 
It was this, and we give it in his own words: '' I 
have traversed in every direction the district 
where the scenes of the gospel are laid. I have 
visited Jerusalem and Hebron and Samaria. Al- 
most no site named in the story of Jesus has es- 
caped me. All this narrative, which at a distance 
seems to float in the clouds of an unreal world, 
thus assumed a body, a substantial existence, 
which astonished me. The striking coincidence 
of texts and places, the wonderful harmony of the 
ideal of the Gospels with the country which served 
as its frame, was for me a revelation. I had be- 
fore my eyes a Fifth Gospel^ and thenceforth 
through the stories of Matthew and Mark, instead 
of an abstract being who one might say had never 
existed, I saw in life and movement a human 
form that challenged admiration!'' 

No intelligent man, at the present day, can 
reasonably doubt that Jesus of Na2;areth was a real 
character, a true and living man, who labored and 
taught in the age and country represented in the 
Gospels. To quote again a thoroughly competent 
authority, John Stuart Mill, whom no one will 
accuse or suspect of being biased in favor of Chris- 
tianity: '^Whatever else may be taken away from 



PHYSICAL COINCIDENCES. 65 

113 by rational criticism, Christ is still left — a 
unique figure, not more unlike all his precursors 
than all his followers. It is of no use to say that 
Christ as exhibited in the Gospels is not historical, 
and that we know not how much of what is ad- 
mirable has been superadded by the tradition of 
his followers. Who among his disciples or among 
their proselytes was capable of inventing the say- 
ings ascribed to Jesus or of imagining the life 
and character revealed in the Gospels? Certainly 
not the fishermen of Galilee; and certainly not 
St Paul, whose character and idiosyncrasies wxre 
of a totally different sort. About the life and say- 
ings of Jesus there is a stamp of personal original- 
ity combined with profundity of insight whicli 
must place him, even in the estimation of those 
who have no belief in his inspiration, in the very 
first rank of the men of sublime genius of whom 
our species can boast. When this preeminent 
genius is combined with the qualities of probably 
the greatest moral reformer and martyr to that 
mission who ever existed upon earth, we have the 
ideal representative and guide of humanity; nor 
even now would it be easy, even for an unbeliev- 
er, to find a better translation of the rule of virtue, 
from the abstract to the concrete, than to endeav- 
or to so live that Christ would approve our life." 

Natural Laws. C 



66 NATURAL I,AWS AND GOSPKI. TEACHINGS. 



PART II. 

NATURAL LAWS AND THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 

The New Testament Scriptures present Jesus 
of Nazareth as a divine Person, and assert that he 
was a Teacher sent forth from God, and that in 
attestation of his divine commission he wrought 
many notable miracles; and the object of this 
chapter is to present, in a clear and concise form, 
various evidences, natural and historical, which 
render these miracles credible. 

A miracle may be defined as, An act of God 
which manifestly deviates from the ordinary work- 
ing of his power according to what are called the 
''laws of nature." Of this character were the 
miracles ascribed in the gospel to Jesus Christ. 

MIRACLES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF CHRISTIANITY. 

Miracles are an integral and vital element of 
the Christian religion. Indeed, the whole gospel 
scheme is one grand chain of miracles. The birth 
of Christ was a miracle, his sinless life was a mira- 
cle, his teaching was interwoven with mirarcles, 
his death was attended with miracles, his resur- 
rection was a miracle, and his ascension to heaven 



MIPs^ACLES OF CHRIST. 67 

was a miracle. Miracles, therefore, are insepa- 
rable from Christianity. Both must stand or fall 
together. Christianity, in its origin and in its 
provisions, claims to be a supernatural religion; 
and it cannot be severed from miracles without 
losing both its virtue and its authority. Take away 
miracles from the gospel, and you take away its 
foundation stones and reduce the whole spiritual 
structure resting upon them to a shattered ruin, 
to a meaningless heap. 

Jesus Christ rests his claims to be received as 
a teacher sent from God upon the miraculous 
works which he performed. To these he perpet- 
ually appeals as his divine credentials as an am- 
bassador from the Father. Thus he speaks : ' ^ The 
works that I do bear witness of me that the Father 
hath sent me." ''The works that I do in my Fa- 
ther's name, they bear witness of me." '' Believe 
me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, 
or else believe me for the very works' sake." 
''If I do not the works of my Father, believe me 
not; but if I do, though ye believe not me, believe 
the works. " " If I had not done among them works 
which none other man did, they had not had sin, 
but now they have no cloak for their sin." 

Upon the evidence of his miracles, to which 
he thus appealed, many, we read, believed on 
him. "Rabbi," said Nicodemus, "we know thai 



68 NATURAI. I.AWS AND GOSPElv TEACHINGS. 

thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can 
do these miracles that thou doest except God be 
with him.'' Others, we are told, blinded by pre- 
conceived and erroneous notions concerning the 
promised Messiah, and by hatred of the pure doc- 
trines he taught, rejected him. '^Because I tell 
you the truth, ye believe me not. And if ye be- 
lieve not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." 
To reject the miracles of Christ, then, is to re- 
ject his teaching and to reject Him. A disbe- 
liever in the supernatural works of Christ cannot 
be a disciple of his, cannot, in any proper sense 
of the word, be a Christian. The credibility of 
the Saviour's miracles, therefore, is a subject of 
momentous and vital interest to every man, and 
demands his serious and candid consideration. 

MIRACLES NOT IMPOSSIBLE. 

The miracles related in the gospel narratives 
have in every age engaged much study and dis- 
cussion, but in none more than in our own. They 
involve much that is inexplicable, much that is 
mysterious to man, and thus offend the wisdom of 
the proud of intellect and not unfrequently per- 
plex even the humble and honest seeker after 
truth. Hence some are led boldly to deny their 
verity, while others remain in painfiil doubts con- 
cerning them. 



MIRACI.es of CHRIST. 69 

Now, no man can consistently deny the possU 
bility of miracles but the absolute atheist; to him 
there exists no being or power capable of produ- 
ing such results; he, and he alone, therefore, can 
deny their possibility without self-contradiction. 
And as there is no ground for argument with such 
a person, I part company with him at once, and 
proceed to address those of a more rational and 
hopeful creed. 

If we believe that there is a God, infinite in 
wisdom and power, we must believe, at least, that 
such miracles as those recorded in the gospel are 
possible to him; for nothing can be beyond the 
power of him who is omnipotent or beyond the 
skill of him who is omniscient. If we admit that 
God is the first and efficient cause of the whole 
system of nature, we cannot doubt that he could 
have, in the beginning, set all its forces — light, 
heat, electricity, magnetism, chemical affinity, and 
gravitation — to work according to other laws, 
laws so different from those which prevail as to 
produce by their mutual and combined operations 
another sort of world, a world which would have 
possessed not a single feature in common with 
that we now behold. No intelligent theist will 
question this. And does not the greater power, 
which is thus adequate to determine and consti- 
tute laws, include the lesser power that may be 



70 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPKL TKACPIINGS. 

necessary to modify or suspend them so as to pro- 
duce what we call a miracle? ''Belief in mira- 
cle,'' says John Stuart Mill, ''is perfectly ra- 
tional on the part of a believer in God.'' But 
while all this is freely admitted, some there are 
who see, or think they see, sufficient reasons to 
doubt, if not to deny, the actual occurrence of 
miracles at any time or place in our world. Let 
us glance, then, at the difficulties which are sup- 
posed to forbid faith in the wonderful works as- 
cribed to Christ 

OBJECTIONS TO MIRACLKS. 

Of the objections and arguments urged against 
miracles, the following are the most worthy of 
consideration. 

I. *' Miracles are contrary to all observation 
and experience. ' ' 

Human observation and experience are limited 
by both space and time. What may be unknown 
to the people of one age, or of one country, may 
be quite familiar to those of another age or of an- 
other country. Hence the fact that we of the 
present day have neither seen nor experienced a 
miracle supplies no proof that those who, 1,850 
years ago, assembled on the shores of the Sea of 
Galilee were not both witnesses and subjects of 
many miracles. 



MIRACT.KS OF CHRIST. 7I 

2. ''Miracles are incompreliensible, and there- 
fore cannot be reasonably believed." 

Miracles are indeed incomprehensible as to the 
mode in which they are accomplished, bnt not as 
to the result produced. And this is equally true 
of a multitude of the most familiar operations of 
nature, which all men unhesitatingly believe. 
We thrust a twig into the ground and presently it 
sends forth roots, grows into a vine, and bears 
grapes; but how the moisture of the soil in pass- 
ing through the alembics of the vine is converted 
into the luscious juice of those grapes is as much 
beyond our comprehension as how the water in 
passing through the water-pots at Cana of Gali- 
lee was changed into wine. The multiplication 
of the seed cast into the furrow is as great a mys- 
tery to us as the multiplication of the bread in the 
Saviour's hands to feed the multitude. The ori- 
gination of life in the unborn infant is as much 
beyond our comprehension as was its restoration 
to the little daughter of Jairus after it had been 
breathed out. To form and quicken a human 
being is at least as great a marvel and a mystery 
as to raise him from the dead. 

3. " Miracles are infractions of the laws of na- 
ture, and God cannot violate the laws which he 
himself has established. ' ' 

Mifacles are nowhere represented in Scripture 



72 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

as violations, or even contradictions, of the estab- 
lished laws of nature; they are not against or con- 
trary to nature, but they are above and beyond 
nature. In a miracle we have a superior force 
overcoming an inferior, an occurrence which per- 
petually takes place in every province of creation. 
''Continually we behold in the world around us 
lower laws held in restraint by higher, mechanic 
by dynamic, chemical by vital, physical by moral; 
yet we say not, when the lower thus gives place 
in favor of the higher, that there was any viola- 
tion of law or that anything contrary to nature 
came to pass.'' The principle of the counterac- 
tion of force by force meets us everywhere in na- 
ture. By it the earth and all the other planets 
are retained in their orbits, the centrifugal force 
being balanced by the centripetal. By it the 
growth of every vegetable is carried on and the 
actions of every animal are performed. Oxygen, 
which composes one-half of the whole substance 
of the globe, is one of the most powerful and vio- 
lent elements in nature; but a small proportion of 
hydrogen combining with it overcomes all its en- 
ergy and renders it bland and harmless as the 
water we drink, for water is formed by this pre- 
cise combination: or let a certain proportion of 
nitrogen embrace it and it becomes mild as the 
air we breathe, for the atmosphere is just such a 



MIRACI.KS OF CHRIST. 73 

combination of these two ingredients. Again, 
gravitation is a force that strongly pulls all ma- 
terial substances on the face of the earth down- 
wards towards its centre; but the vital force of 
plants overcomes it, and in spite of all its pull, 
carries streams of liquid solutions upward and 
wdth them builds a tree fifty or a hundred feet 
high. Again, by gravitation my body, wdth all 
its members, like everything else, is perpetually 
drawn downward; but I can lift my arm and so 
far overcome it, but when I do so the law of grav- 
itation, as far as that arm is concerned, is not an- 
nihilated or even suspended; it exerts its power 
as much as ever upon it, but is overcome by the 
higher law or force of my will. In the act of 
lifting up my arm, therefore, there is no violation 
of law. So vv^hen the will-force of Jesus so far 
overcame that of gravitation as to enable him to 
walk on the weaves of the sea there was no viola- 
tion, no interruption of law; gravitation all the 
while might have exerted its full force on every 
particle of his body as on the uplifted arm, but 
was overcome by the superior force of his divine 
will. So that in this astonishing miracle we do 
but witness a w^eaker force overcome by a strong- 
er or a lower law yielding to a higher, a fact in 
entire harmony with the established government 
of the whole physical world. 



74 NATURAI, I,AWS AND GOSPKI. TEACHINGS. 

4. ' ' The stability and uniformity of nature are 
against the admission of miracles." 

The realm of nature is indeed a realm of es- 
tablished order, and no book asserts the uniformity 
of nature's laws more emphatically than the Bible. 
But this, instead of being an argument for the 
exclusion of miracles, is a necessary condition for 
their display. If there had not been an established 
order of nature, such a thing as a distinct and de- 
cisive miracle could not have taken place, or at 
least could not have been distinguished from its 
occasional aberrations or obliquities. It is the 
regularity of nature that proves an exceptional 
event to have been a miracle. The prevailing 
uniformity of natural laws, however, is no proof 
that their action never has been and never can be 
modified or suspended by a miracle. So far as 
the observations of living men have extended, 
they may pronounce positively that no instance, 
no sign of departure from law, has been witnessed 
by them; but this is quite another thing from 
proof that there never has been such a departure. 
Astronomers had long been telling the world that 
among the heavenly bodies they observed nothing 
but regular orbits and uniform motions, and that 
any departure from this established order was for- 
bidden by law; yet, to the astonishment of all, in 
1846 there happened such a thing as a comet 



MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 75 

splitting into two, each having a distinct tail and 
nucleus, and, after travelling far apart through 
millions of miles, reuniting and forming one com- 
et again as at first. Of this extraordinary occur- 
rence the heavens gave no indication before and 
retained no trace after; the phenomenon is known 
to us only from the testimony of those who ob- 
served it. And so it has been with the miracles 
of the gospel; nature gave no sign of their coming 
and has preserved no evidence of their accom- 
plishment; we know that they were wrought only 
through the concurrent testimony of those who, 
like the observers of the comet, were eye-witnesses 
of their performance. 

• 5. ''Miracles are contrary to the universal law 
of cause and effect, and are therefore incredible." 
The miracles of the gospel were not effects 
without a cause, but were effects produced imme- 
diately by the most efficient of all causes. To 
this objection one of the masters of modern rea- 
soning has returned this sufficient reply: ''A mir- 
acle is no contradiction to the law of cause and 
effect; it is a new effect supposed to be produced 
by the introduction of a new cause. Of the 
adequacy of that cause, if present, there can be 
no doubt, and the only antecedent improbability 
which can be ascribed to the miracle is the im- 
probability that any such cause existed." Grant 



76 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

the ''cause,'' that is, God, and all improbability 
vanishes. 

6. ' ' The universe is a complete and all-related 
machine, and to interfere by a miracle with one 
of its laws or forces would be to propagate distur- 
bance through the whole; a miracle, therefore, is 
incredible. ' ' 

To this we might be content simply to reply 
that the world is not a machine and God is not a 
mechanic in any such sense as is generally at- 
tached to these terms. But accepting the simile 
for what it is worth, I deny that any such distur- 
bance would necessarily be spread through nature 
by any of the Saviour's miracles. We often see 
the materials and forces of nature, even by the 
will of man, diverted or opposed in various ways; 
we see him set inert and heavy bodies in sudden 
and rapid motion, blow masses of rock into frag- 
ments with his dynamite, cut down forests and 
thereby diminish the amount of rain and increase 
that of the solar heat, drain pestilential swamps 
and convert them to healthful habitations, divert 
the lightning in its fearful rush and send it 
harmless into the ground; but the general work- 
ings of nature are in no way detrimentally affected 
by any or all of these. Why, then, should the 
miracles of Jesus — his healing a leper, giving 
sight to the blind, withering a fig-tree, or stilling 



MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 7/ 

a tempest on the little Lake of Galilee — be sup- 
posed to send such disturbance through the con- 
stitution of nature? And even if in the natural 
course of things such an effect would follow, it is 
sufficient to observe that, since all the forces of 
nature, as scientists now hold, are but different 
manifestations of one and the same force, and that 
one force but the will-force of God, the will-force 
of him who performs the miracle, it is manifest 
that he could with infinite ease limit and confine 
the effects of the most stupendous miracle on 
record to the object or individual concerned in its 
performance. 

Such are the principal objections that have 
been urged from the operations of natural law 
against the gospel miracles. And all these, as we 
have now seen, are without force; they present no 
antecedent grounds, point out no fundamental 
principle, offer no conclusive or convincing reason 
for rejecting these miracles. They are but as 
blank cartridges, making a noise indeed, but leav- 
ing the object against which they are aimed un- 
moved and unharmed. 

EVIDENCE FOR MIRACI.ES IN NATURE. 

The researches of natural science, though they 
have succeeded in interpreting so many of the 
laws and phenomena of the creation, can say 



78 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

nothing directly either for or agaiust the particular 
miracles related in the New Testament. The 
field of science is confined to physical nature, but 
these miracles belong to quite another field — a 
field where her instruments cannot avail, where 
her experiments cannot be made, and where all 
her calculations are povv^erless ; their producing 
Cause is above and beyond her means of investi- 
gation. 

But though science cannot be cited as a direct 
witness for the miracles of Christ, yet it has ren- 
dered one important service relative to this sub- 
ject: it points out certain events in the history of 
our planet which no physical laws or forces will 
serve to explain or account for and which, there- 
fore, must be ascribed to a Power above nature. 
The history of this globe, as deciphered by sci- 
ence, presents indisputable evidence that God, at 
successive periods, wrought miracles in our world. 
Some of these we now proceed to notice. 

I. We have a miracle in the origination of 
MATTER. If we believe there is a God at all, we 
must believe that he is eternal and before all 
things. And if he was before all things, then all 
things must have had a beginning. Matter, the 
dead and inorganic matter, composing our globe 
and all other globes, therefore, is not eternal; and 
it is not self-originated, it could not of its own 



MIRACLES OK CHRIST. 79 

accord begin to be, for that is inconceivable, is, 
indeed, impossible, for that would be acting before 
it had a being. Matter, then, must have been 
created. And evidence of this it still carries in its 
own bosom. Every elementary molecule of mat- 
ter, science tells us, has its specific properties, so 
that, as Sir John Herschel asserts, ''these mole- 
cules possess all the characteristics of manufactured 
articles. ' ' And Prof Maxwell says, ' ' No theory 
of evolution can be formed to account for the sim- 
ilarity of the molecules throughout all time and 
space. These molecules are and ever have been 
perfect in number and measure and weight. None 
of the processes of nature, since the time when 
nature began, have produced the slightest differ- 
ence in the properties of any molecule. On the 
other hand, the exact equality of each molecule 
to all others of the same kind precludes the idea 
of its being eternal and self-existent." Matter, 
then, had a beginning and must have been cre- 
ated, that is, must have been the product of a 
miracle. 

2. We have a miracle in the origin of motion. 
In whatever form or condition matter was created 
or originally existed, in that form and condition it 
must have always remained unless disturbed or 
put in motion by some external agency. Science 
lays it down as a fundamental principle that 



8o NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

'^matter is inei't^^'* and its first law of motion as- 
serts that '^a body of matter at rest continues in 
that state except in so far as it may be compelled 
by impressed force to change that state.'' Hence 
whatever may have been the primordial condition 
of the material universe, whether a cloud of dust, 
according to Democritus, or a fiery mist, according 
to the modern hypothesis, if not subjected to the 
action of an Efficient Cause exterior to itself, it 
must have remained for ever dead, motionless, 
and unchangeable. To originate motion, to start 
the revolutions of the earth and the other planets, 
therefore, some external agency possessed of spon- 
taneity must be inferred. And as the only spon- 
taneous agent we know of is free-will^ the Will of 
the eternal Being (for that alone was adequate) 
must have been the first cause of motion, of inter- 
action in masses, and of progression in space. Mo- 
tion, therefore — all motion in the system of na- 
ture—originated in the fiat of the Almighty, that 
is, in a miracle. 

3. We have a miracle in the institution and 
coordination of the physical LAWS which actu- 
ate and govern material nature. The laws of 
gravitation and motion, the laws of light and heat, 
of electricity and magnetism, of attraction and 
repulsion, all these, always and everywhere, work 
with mathematical and infallible exactness, and 



MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 8l 

all are so admirably adjusted and combined that 
they play into each other's hands as if each were 
an angel of unerring sympathy and insight, and 
thus out of infinite complexity of operations pro- 
duce a world of divine unity, harmony, and beau- 
ty. Such a system of perfect and all-related laws, 
embracing and controlling all that takes place in 
the earth, the ocean, and the atmosphere, could 
have its origin in none other than the All-com- 
prehending Mind. Law implies a law-giver and 
a time when it was given. The institution and 
coordination of the marvellous laws which govern 
our w^orld, therefore, must have had a beginning 
and must have been an immediate act of God, in 
other words, a miracle. No sane mind will un- 
dertake to dispute this. 

4. Descending through undefined periods, we 
have again a miracle in the introduction of planT- 
LiFE upon the earth. That our globe was once 
in a condition that allowed not of the existence of 
vegetation and that it continued throuo;h lone 
ages without a single plantal growth upon its 
whole surface, being a molten sphere, is a fact 
admitted by all. With the first plant appeared 
in our world a new thing, a new force, difiering 
essentially from all the physical and chemical 
forces that had previously been in operation, and 
governed by essentially difierent lavv^s. ./ Nay, 

Natural Laws. (S 



8^ NATURAI. UUVS AND GOSPElv TEACHINGS. 

plant-life was so far superior to those forces that 
it employed them as its servants to accomplish its 
own ends. It possessed a power to overcome 
gravitation and to exercise a chemistry peculiar 
to itself. It seized upon and grouped the atoms 
of inorganic matter to compose for itself an organ- 
ised residence, such as had never existed before. 
Whence, then, came this distinct principle, this 
new and mysterious power, this vital force of 
plants? Not from any combination of the pre- 
viously existing forces, for it had nothing in com- 
mon with them. Not from any quality or com- 
position of soil, for to this day the most accom- 
plished chemists have utterly failed to produce a 
composition from which it can be elicited or even 
a form in which it can be induced to take up its 
abode; it rejects every habitation except that of 
its own construction. Prof. Huxley vainly at- 
tempts to account for this vital mystery by telling 
us that every plant comes from protoplasm. Be it 
so, but the protoplasm that will give birth to 
plant-life must itself be the product of some pre- 
vious plant, and such a thing is unknown and 
non-existent except as produced under the influ- 
ence of pre-existing life. This stands now an un- 
disputed fact. Whence, then, we ask again, the 
first plant that produced the first living proto- 
plasm ? But one answer can be returned — it 



MIRACI.es ok CHRIST. 83 

must have been the product of supernatural Agen- 
cy, or a miracle. '^For these reasons,'' says the 
profound author of ^' Habit and Intelligence," '^I 
believe that plant-life, like matter and energy, 
had its origin in no secondary cause, but in the 
direct action of Creative Power." 

5. Coming down to a later period still in the 
history of our globe, we witness another miracle 
in the introduction of animal 1.1FB. In this 
event we have a marked upward step in the pro- 
gressive work of creation. Whatever general or 
particular resemblance may appear between some 
members of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, 
there exists an essential distinction between them ; 
the one cannot be derived from the other. Plants 
feed on inorganic matter; animals can feed only 
on organic matter — on vegetables or vegetable 
productions. ''Vegetables," says Prof. Murphy, 
''form their organic compounds out of the mate- 
rials of the inorganic world, and animals give 
them back to the inorganic world again in the 
form of w^aste material. Thus the relations of 
vegetables and of animals to matter are opposite. 
The dynamic function of vegetables also is the 
opposite of that of animals. Vegetables take up, 
animals give out, energy. In a word, vegetables 
take up both matter and energy from the inor- 
ganic world, and the animals that feed on the 



84 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPHL TEACHINGS. 

vegetables give back the matter and the energy 
again to the inorganic world." The animal dif- 
fers from the plant not only in its chemic and 
dynamic actions, but also in its physiological 
functions and capacities; it possesses powers of 
sense and activity with which we can find nothing 
to compare in the whole vegetable kingdom. In 
animal life or vital power, then, we have a new 
force and what may be characterized, in reference 
to all that went before it, as a siipernatttral product. 
In it we have a product above and beyond all that 
nature had previously exhibited or owned, and 
which, as the cause must ever excel its effect, 
must have been brought into existence by a Power 
above and beyond all that nature possessed. 

It was long a favorite notion with a certain 
class of naturalists that life could be generated 
spontaneously from inorganic matter, and it was 
announced more than once that the feat had act- 
ually been accomplished. But late and more 
accurate experiments have disproved all this and 
settled the question. *' Spontaneous generation " 
has now been given up by its most ardent advo- 
cates. Even Tyndall has been compelled to say, 
''I affirm that no shred of trustworthy experi- 
mental testimony exists to prove that life in our 
day has ever appeared independently of antece- 
dent life." And Huxley has made the frank ac- 



^MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 85 

knowledginent that the doctrine of 'V//> oiily frovi 
life is victorious along the whole line at the pres- 
ent day." From whence, then, the first life but 
from the living God? The origin of animal life 
upon our planet cannot rationally be ascribed to 
any other cause than a special and direct act of 
the Creator. ''Geology," says Prof. Dana, ''ap- 
pears to bring us directly before the Creator, and 
leads us to no other solution of the origin of life 
than this — Dats fecit ^^ (God produced it). So 
Prof. Murphy: "We have every reason to believe 
that animal life, like matter, has had its origin in 
the direct action of Creative Power." So Prin- 
cipal Dawson: "Whatever theory w^e adopt, un- 
doubtedly we must hold that a higher spiritual 
Power or Creator is necessary to the existence of 
life." And even Darwin himself ascribes the 
beginning of life on our globe to a specific act of 
the Creator. These are his words : ' ' There is gran- 
deur in this view of life, with its several powers, 
having been originally breathed by the Creator into 
a few forms or into one." In the introduction of 
animal life upon the earth, then, we have an un- 
deniable, an admitted, miracle. 

6. Descending still with the flow of time and 
passing by the various ' ' orders ' ' of animals that 
were successively introduced to inhabit sea and 
land and air, we now come down to the close of 



86 NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

the geological history of our globe; and here we 
behold another signal miracle in the creation of 
MAN. In intelligent and moral man we have a 
being quite distinct from and immeasurably in 
advance of all the living creatures that had pre- 
viously occupied the earth— a being whose intro- 
duction into existence cannot be rationally ascribed 
to any agency but a special act of the Creator. 
No forces or laws of the physical world and no 
properties or functions or powers of animal nature 
that had preceded him will serve to account for 
his unique and preeminent nature and character. 
In body and mind he is acknowledged, by com- 
mon consent, to be unapproached by any living 
thing that went before. His erect and symmetri- 
cal form, his expressive countenance and com- 
manding attitude, his sensitive and ingenious 
hands, his voluminous brain and delicate nerves, 
his self-consciousness and intellectual faculties, 
his memory and imagination and reasoning pow- 
ers, his capacity for language and social inter- 
course, his affections and emotions and conscience, 
his susceptibility for moral culture and refine- 
ment, his genius for science, poetry, and music, 
his ability to survey the scenes of nature and to 
understand its laws, his conscious freedom of will 
and accountability, his sense of right and guilt 
and penitence, his innate promptings to look up 



MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 87 

and appeal to a higher Power, his boundless as- 
jDirations and intuitions of immortality, his ability 
to look backward into the abyss of the past and 
forward into the eternity which is future — these 
preeminent endowments prove him at once to 
every unbiased mind to be a separate '^ order'' of 
being, the product of a direct and special act of 
the Creator. 

I am well aware that a widely different view 
has been put forth and is held by some. Every 
reader knows that Ivamark conceived the idea, 
and that later Darwin and his followers have at- 
tempted to prove, that all living creatures, man 
included, have come into being by what is called 
' ' Natural Selection ;' ' in other words, by slow and 
fortuitous variations beginning with the lowest 
and simplest vitalized atoms and carried on no- 
body knows through what myriads of ages. But 
this theory, or rather hypothesis, at least so far as 
7na7i is concerned, is beset by difficulties so numer- 
ous and so great that they have perplexed and 
staggered its stoutest advocates and compelled 
them to make admissions that plainly show upon 
what a flimsy foundation their assumptions rest. 

Prof Huxley, though among the foremost of 
these evolutionists, finds himself forced to speak 
thus: *'No one is more certain than I am that, 
whether man is from the brutes or not, he is as- 



88 NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPKI. TEACHINGS. 

suredly not of tliem." Again he says, "The 
divergence of man from the simian, or monkey, 
race is unmKASURABlE and practically infi- 
nite." 

Prof. Alfred Wallace, one of the originators of 
and by far the best expositor of the theory of Nat- 
ural Selection, confesses that he discovers in man, 
in his body as well as in his mind, what compels 
him to believe that a special interposition of di- 
vine agency was concerned in his production. 
He finds in ''the peculiar construction of his hand 
and foot," in the ''wonderful power, range, flex- 
ibility, and sweetness of the musical sounds pro- 
ducible by the human larynx," in the "size of 
his brain," in his "capacity to form ideal concep- 
tions of space and time, of eternity and infinity," 
in his "capacity for intense artistic feelings of 
pleasure in form, color, and composition," in 
those "abstract ideas of form and number which 
render geometry possible," and in his "conscience 
or moral sense" — -in these he finds what convin- 
ces him that man is to be set " apart" in the zo- 
ological system, "not only as the head of organic 
nature, but in some degree a 7iew and distinct order 
of being. " 

St. George Mivart, also an evolutionist, and 
who stands in the first rank of living naturalists, 
makes this explicit statement: " The soul of man 



MIRACLKS OF' CHRIST. 89 

was created, not by any preexisting means, but 
by the direct actioii of the Ahnighty, symbolized 
by the term breathing.^ ^ 

Dr. Dawson, President of Montreal University, 
speaking of the first man, says, ''His Maker 
breathed into him a spiritual nature akin to His 
own, whereby he became different from all other 
animals and the very shadow and likeness of God, 
capable of rising to abstractions and general con- 
ceptions of truth and goodness and of holding 
communion with his Creator." 

Arnold Guyot, Professor of Geology in the 
College of New Jersey, makes this emphatic 
statement: "That spiritual element which con- 
stitues man a distinct creation can no more be 
derived from the physiological functions of the 
animal than life can be evolved from dead mat- 
ter. There is between the two planes an impass- 
able abyss." 

Prof Dana, of Yale College, America's most 
distinguished geologist, gives his view of this sub- 
ject in these words: ''If, then, the present teach- 
ing of geology as to the origin of species is for the 
most part indecisive, it still strongly confirms the 
belief that man is not of nature's making. Inde- 
pendently of such evidence, man's high reason, 
his unsatisfied aspirations, his free will, all afford 
the fullest assurance that he owes his existence to 



90 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

the Special act of the Infinite Being whose image 
he bears." 

If, therefore, any weight of authority or any 
kind or number of decisive facts can prove any- 
thing, then that man is the product of a special 
and direct act of God, or a miracle^ is abundantly 
established. 

We have now seen that, at successive stages in 
the progressive work of forming, furnishing, and 
peopling the earth, special and direct acts of 
divine power were put forth. The origination of 
matter, the beginning of motion, the ordination 
of physical laws, the origin of plant-life, the intro- 
duction of animal life, and the creation of man — 
are all indisputable miracles ; nothing else that 
human science can point to or human philosophy 
suggest v/ill serve either to explain or account for 
them. 

Now these facts prove to us several important 
truths: they prove that miracles are not impossi- 
ble, that God has not tied and bound his own 
hands by the ordinances which he has appointed 
for the general government of the world, that the 
'Maws of nature" are subject to the will of the 
supreme 'h^'wgiver^ and that he has in the course 
of the world's history once and again interposed 
among the workings of natural forces to accom- 
plish what they could not effect. And further, as 



MIRACI.KS OK CHRIST. 91 

liis plan concerning the world is continuous, with- 
out a break, and still in steady progress of devel- 
opment, they prove that what had taken place in 
the past might take place again in the future; in 
other words, they establish the probability that, 
should occasion demanding and worthy of them 
arise in time to come, miracles would be per- 
formed again. And such an occasion, as we shall 
immediately see, did arise. 

It will be observed that each of the foregoing 
miracles marked the beginning of a distinct and 
important epoch in the world's progress and served 
to advance and lift it to a higher plane — the cha- 
otic to orderly material, the material to the vegeta- 
ble, the vegetable to the animal, and the animal to 
intelligent and moral man. And now, as the facts 
of man's history abundantly prove, another advance 
and lift became necessary; and analogy would nat- 
urally lead to the expectation that this, as in each 
of the preceding stages, would be accomplished 
by a like interposition of miraculous power. And 
so, as we are assured by credible witnesses, it 
came to pass. 

Man, the human race, the beings for whom 
the world was made, early fell from the bright and 
happy state in which their Maker had placed 
them and sank into a condition of sin and misery, 
subject to toil and disease and death. Infinite 



gZ NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINGS. 

Wisdom had foreseen this and provided for it. 
His plan, perfect and all-comprehending, em- 
braced a system of means for their restoration and 
elevation; and the unfolding of that plan would 
bring on a brighter day for lost humanity. Ac- 
cordingly, when in the fulness of time this era, 
the most wonderful and important in the world's 
history, was ushered in, it was, as aforetime, by 
the intervention of miracles — now miracles of 
grace. The occasion demanded them and was 
worthy of them. Hence appeared in our v/orld a 
divine Redeemer, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man ap- 
proved of God by miracles and wonders and signs 
which God did by him in the midst of the people; 
he being delivered by the determinate counsel and 
foreknowledge of God, was taken, and by wicked 
hands was crucified and slain; whom God raised 
up, having loosed the pains of death, because it 
was impossible that he should be holden of it." 

And why should all this be doubted or called 
in question by any? Is it not in harmony with 
the divine procedure from the beginning? If he 
wrought miracles to produce a material kingdom, 
why might he not do the same to institute a spir- 
itual kingdom ? If he resorted to a miracle to set 
in order physical laws, why might he not to estab- 
lish the higher laws of truth and righteousness? 
If he put forth a miracle to beautify the earth 



MIRACLES OK CHRIST. 93 

with vegetation, why might he not to adorn it 
with plants of grace and flowers of holiness ? If 
he performed a miracle to bring man into being 
in an earthly form, why not to elevate him to a 
celestial state and sphere of existence? If he 
WTonght a miracle to people this lower world with 
animal tenants, why not to people heaven with 
immortal beings? In a word, why shonld it be 
thought a thing incredible that the grandest epoch 
in the moral world, involving the eternal welfare 
of the last and highest race placed on this globe, 
should have been inaugurated by this marked 
demonstration of almighty power and unsearcha- 
ble grace ! So far, then, as the science of nature 
can speak, its testimony is clearly in favor and 
support of the w^onderful events and miraculous 
works of which we read in the gospel. 

CHARACTER OF THE EVIDENCE FOR CHRIST'S 

MIRACLES. 

That the miracles related in the gospel were 
actually performed by Jesus of Nazareth is a 
matter of fact, and is capable of being proved by 
evidences such as prove any other facts or deeds 
or historic events, namely, by the testimony of 
competent and credible witnesses. Now for esti- 
mating the value of such testimony the w^isdoni 
and experience of judges and law^yers have laid 



94 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPKL TKACIIINGS. 

down the following rules: i. Anything capable 
of being proved by mere testimony is credible in 
proportion to the opportunity which the witness 
had of beino^ well informed concerninof it himself 
and his freedom from any bias that might make 
him wish to impose upon others. 2. The more 
persons there are who relate the same transaction, 
of which they are equally credible witnesses, the 
stronger is the evidence for it. 3. The proper 
mark or criterion of the truth of a story, being 
related by a number of independent witnesses of 
full credit, is their complete agreement in the 
principal facts or arguments and their disagree- 
ment with respect to things of less consequence, 
or at least variety or diversity in their manner of 
relating the same thing. 

Now, judged by all these forensic rules, the 
testimony that goes to prove the truth and reality 
of Christ's miracles is the most satisfactory and 
complete that can be given or desired, i. The 
witnesses were present and had the most favorable 
opportunity possible to see them performed and 
afterwards to observe and test their effects; and 
there existed no promise or prospect of any earth- 
ly advantage to bias their minds or to induce 
them to depart from the truth. 2. These wit- 
nesses were not two or three only, but many, even 
multitudes, including both sexes and every grade 



MIRACLES OK CHRIST. 95 

and office in society. 3. And the testimony of 
all, as far as it has reached us, is absolutely 07ie in 
regard to the principal facts, while according to 
their several points of view they vary more or 
less as to the number and order of the mere inci- 
dental circumstances which they relate; but even 
in this variation there is no contradiction. Thus, 
tested by the severest judicial rules, the evidence 
we have for the miracles of Christ is such as would 
decide the most momentous issue in the most 
cautious and rigid court of justice. It would de- 
termine every fair and impartial judge whether 
he should give sentence for life or for death. 

THE CRITERIA OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES. 

The measure and kind of evidence that w411 
carry conviction in regard to any natural act or 
event will not suffice, with many, to command 
belief in that which is supernatural. Hence dis- 
believers in the supernatural portions of the gospel 
claim that an act or event, to be received and 
credited as a true miracle, must possess all the fol- 
lowing criteria, or characteristics. 

I. A miracle, if performed, must be wrought 
for an important end, and one worthy of its author. 

The miracles of Christ were performed to at- 
test his divine commission, to alleviate human 
misery, and to illustrate sacred truths. 



9 3 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPKL TKACHINGS. 

2. An act to be accounted and received as a 
miracle must be instantaneously and publicly per- 
formed. 

In this very manner the miracles of Jesus were 
performed. He spake the word, and immediately 
the sick were healed, the lame walked, and the 
blind received sight, and this in the presence of 
enemies as well as friends, at marriage and fu- 
neral gatherings, in the synagogues, and at the 
public festivals. 

3. An act to be accepted as a miracle must be 
such as the senses of men can clearly and fully 
judge of. 

And such were the miracles of Jesus Christ; 
the eyes and ears and hands of those present could 
test them; the leper cleansed, the paralytic nerved 
with strength, and the dumb speaking were facts 
of which the senses of all could judge and decide. 

4. An act to be a true miracle must be inde- 
pendent of second or natural causes. 

The miraculous deeds of the Saviour were al- 
together independent of such causes; to still the 
tempest, to walk upon the sea, and to raise the 
dead to life again were acts which no natural or 
second causes were adequate to accomplish or in 
any v/ay account for. 

5. An event so extraordinary as a miracle 
could hardly fail to be attested by some abiding 



MIRACLES OF CHRIST. 97 

memorial or public monument of its performance, 
dating from the time it took place. 

The miracles of Christ are attested by just 
such evidence. Many of the subjects^ or those who 
experienced the benefit of them, long survived, 
and tlius remained among men living and public 
monuments of their reality. The gospel narratives 
of these miracles were also written and published 
in the midst of the very people who had witnessed 
them, and these have remained public memorials 
of them through all generations since. The 
Lord^s Slipper^ likewise, was instituted in com- 
memoration of his crucifixion, and as a sacred 
memorial of his dying love has ever since been 
devoutly observed in every land by all his follow- 
ers. And shortly after his resurrection the sacred 
day of rest was transferred from the seventh to the 
first day of the week, as an abiding monument of 
that, the greatest of all miracles. 

Thus we find that the mighty works and signs 
WTought by our blessed Lord are marked by every 
criterion and possesss every characteristic which 
even a skeptic can claim for what he would ac- 
cept as true miracles. 

WITNESSES FOR THE GREATEST OF GOSPEL 

MIRACLES. 

Of all the miracles of the gospel the most re- 

Natural Lav.'s. >-j 



93 NATURAI, I,AWS AND GOSPE;!, TE:ACHINGS. 

niarkable and stupendous, as just observed, is the 
resurrection from the grave of Christ himself. 
This miracle being proved, all his other miracles 
are proved and his divine mission and authority 
for ever established. 

That Jesus Christ was crucified, and that he 
DIED upon the cross and was buried, are facts 
which no intelligent person, whether a Christian 
or an infidel, now questions. The evidence for 
all this is too manifold and clear to be doubted, 
for the chief rulers of the Jewish nation and the 
Roman governor himself were parties concerned. 
That he actually and truly died we have both 
natural and official proof of the most conclusive 
character. Not only did he hang upon the cross 
in extreme agony through six long hours, but his 
side was pierced with a spear, inflicting a mortal 
w^ound which brought forth both blood and water. 
The soldiers who guarded his cross were fully 
convinced that he was dead already, and for this 
reason they brake not his legs as they did those 
of the thieves crucified with him. And Pilate, 
not until assured by the centurion that he was 
dead past all doubt would he allow his body to be 
taken down. His enemies, too, the chief priests 
and Pharisees, were fully satisfied that he had ex- 
pired. And even his friends, who clung to him 
to the last, knowin»g that he was dead, wound him 



MIRACI.es Oi^ CHRIST. 99 

up 111 linen cloth, as was the custom of their na- 
tion, and laid him in the cold sepulchre, which 
they closed with a great stone; and there, under 
the seal and guard of the governor, he remained 
from the evening of Friday until the morning of 
th? first day of the next week. That Christ died 
and was buried, therefore, is an indisputable fact. 
That he rKvivkd and ROSE again and showed 
himself alive after his passion is also a fact estab- 
lished by many and infallible proofs. Eleven 
times, it is recorded, did he appear to the disci- 
ples in various ways and at dificrent times and 
places. He was seen of them at all hours — early 
in the morning, during the day, and in the even- 
ing. He met with them in localities widely 
distant — in the garden, in the chamber at Jerusa- 
lem, on the road to Emmaus, on a hill in Galilee, 
by the Sea of Tiberias, and on the Mount of 
Olives. He ate and drank and conversed with 
them. He allowed them to embrace his feet and 
pay to him the homage of their love. He exhib- 
ited to them the print of the nails in his hands 
and the wound of the spear in his side. He in- 
vited them to examine and feel his person, and 
even to put their fingers into his yet unclosed 
wounds, in order to remove every shade of doubt 
from their minds. Such were the numerous and 
difiering and abundant proofs he gave of his 



lOO NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

resitrrection — proofs that rendered it impossible 
that they should be either deceived or mistaken. 

That the disciples were thoroughly convhiced 
and fully believed that Christ died and rose again 
there can be no doubt, for of this they gave the 
most unquestionable proof in the power of human 
beings to offer. Influenced by the most unshaken 
confidence, they laid aside every other occupation 
and interest and devoted themselves for life to 
proclaim the interesting and momentous event to 
the world. Voluntarily, and without hope or 
prospect of any temporal reward or advantage, 
they exposed themselves to toil and privation, to 
hatred and reproach, to carry the glad tidings to 
as many of their fellow-creatures as they could 
reach. They hesitated at no sacrifice, they ex- 
cused themselves from no labor or pains, they 
shrank from no dangers or terrors, in doing this. 
They persisted in their assertion that '^ Christ was 
risen indeed," in the face of all manner of vio- 
lence and persecution, and at last cheerfully sealed 
their testimony with their blood. And in view of 
all this who can question their full conviction and 
unshaken faith ? 

Hume, an English skeptic, having made the 
assertion that no amount of testimony was suffi- 
cient to establish such an event as the resurrec- 
tion, Dr. Paley replied to him in the following 



MIRACI^ES OF CHRIST. lOI 

striking words: "If twelve men, whose probity 
and good sense I had long known, should seri- 
ously and circumstantially relate to me an account 
of a miracle wrought before their eyes, and in 
which it was impossible they could be deceived; 
if the governor of the country, hearing a rumor of 
this account, should call these men into his pres- 
ence and offer them a short proposal — either to 
confess the imposture or submit to be tied up to a 
gibbet; if they should refuse with one voice to 
acknowledge that there existed any falsehood or 
imposture in the case; if this threat was commu- 
nicated to them separately, yet with no different 
effect; if it was at last executed; if I myself saw 
them, one after another, consenting to be racked, 
burned, or strangled rather than give up their 
account; still, if Mr. Hume's rule be my guide, I 
am not to believe them. Now I undertake to say 
that there exists not a skeptic in the world who 
would not believe them or who would defend 
such incredulity." 

HISTORIC EVIDENCE FOR CHRIST'S MIRACI.ES. 

The history of Christ's ministry and resurrec- 
tion, and of the labors and sacrifices of his disci- 
ples in publishing it, comes down to us in the 
writings of no less than seven different credible 
authors — Matthew, Mark, Ivuke, John, Paul, Pe- 



102 NATURAI. I.AWS AND GOSPKI. Tp:ACHINGS. 

ter, and James. The narratives and epistles of 
these were penned at diflferent dates, in v/idely- 
separated localities, and without any concert; yet 
when brought together and compared they are 
found to agree in every essential point. They 
have been subjected to a severity of criticism and 
scrutiny which have been applied to no other 
historical documents in existence, and have 
come out of the ordeal with their genuineness 
unshaken and their veracity thoroughly estab- 
lished. 

For the authenticity of these sacred books we 
have an unbroken chain of evidence. From the 
very time that they were written down to our 
own they have been recognised and quoted as au- 
thentic narratives and epistles. Clement, bishop 
of Rome, wrote an epistle to the church at Cor- 
inth while the apostle John was yet living, in 
which he makes quotations from the Gospels of 
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and also from the 
Epistles of Paul, Peter, and James. Barnabas, a 
very few years later, wrote an epistle in which 
are found quotations from the first three Gospels 
and a reference to the fourth. Next we have the 
Epistle of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, in which 
he cites all the four Gospels and refers to PauPs 
Epistle to the Epliesians. Polycarp, who was per- 
sonally intimate with the apostle John, v/rote a 



CHRIST'S MIRACLES. IO3 

letter to the Philippians, in wliicli lie refers to 
PauPs Epistle to that church, quotes the first 
three Gospels and refers to the fourth, and also 
quotes passages from the Acts and from the Epis- 
tles of Paul, Peter, and Jude. Irenaeus, a pupil of 
Polycarp, cites passages from all the books of the 
New Testament. Papias, a pupil of those who 
had listened to the apostles, composed a Harmony 
of the four Gospels. Tertullian, wTiting from one 
hundred to one hundred and fifty years after the 
Gospels had been published, with full access to 
proofs of their genuineness, supplies us with a 
brief abstract of nearly all the books of the New 
Testament, which proves that those books are 
precisely the same as those we now have. De- 
scending further with time, corroborative author- 
ities become too numerous to be named. Such is 
a short summary of the historic evidence for the 
genuineness and authenticity of the narratives of 
the life of Christ and of the epistles of the first 
preachers of the gospel. 

It must be manifest hence to every unpreju- 
diced and candid mind that, if we have any au- 
thentic and reliable records of the past, those of 
the New ^Testament are such ; and that, if the 
acts or events recorded in any ancient history are 
to be received, the acts and events related in the 
Christian Gospels and Epistles are to be received 



I04 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPKl. TEACHINGS. 

with unhesitating confidence. We cannot reject 
these without also casting aside all history for the 
same reason. But no man of sense does this or 
thinks of doing it. 

Secular history is read with general interest 
because it is generally believed. The great events, 
great actors, and great deeds which it relates are 
regarded and accepted as unquestionable facts. 
History tells us that there were such cities as Nin- 
eveh, Babylon, and Tyre, and describes their ex- 
tent, wealth, and grandeur ; and though every 
vestige of their magnificence had disappeared 
from the face of the earth twenty centuries ago, 
yet v/e do not doubt that there were such cities. 
Xenophon relates that Alexander conquered Per- 
sia, Julius Caesar that he invaded Britain, and 
Josephus that Herod reigned over Judaea; and we 
never think of questioning the truth of these 
events. History relates the fame of Demosthenes 
as an orator, of Virgil as a poet, and of Cicero as 
a statesman; and no scholar doubts either the ex- 
istence or the celebrity of these characters. Pliny 
mentions and describes a terrific eruption of Vesu- 
vius in the first century, which overwhelmed the 
cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and Ammia- 
nas a fearful earthquake in the fourth century 
that violently shook the greater part of the Ro- 
man world; and no one disputes the truthfulness 



CHRIST'S MiRAcr^Ks 105 

of these statements. Tyclio Bralie relates that 
one night, in 1572, he saw a star flash forth in 
great brilliancy in the constellation of Cassiopeia, 
which, after the lapse of some eighteen months, 
utterly vanished ; and Brunouski that, in 1606, 
he observed a similar star in Ophinchns, which 
sparkled with an interchange of colors like a dia- 
mond, and after shining for a whole year faded 
and died away. Neither of these stars had been 
observed before and neither of them has been seen 
since; and yet, exceptional as were these occur- 
rences, none of our astronomers doubt the truth of 
the account given of them. Such is the general 
faith of men in secular history. 

Now none of the historians who relate the 
above facts, nor any other historians, ever gave 
such decisive proofs of their truthfulness and hon- 
esty as did the disciples of Jesus, none of their 
works have been so closely and repeatedly stud- 
ied, none subjected to such severe criticism, and 
none have sustained such vigorous ordeals as the 
Gospels and Epistles, and none of them are sup- 
ported by corroborations so numerous and diversi- 
fied as are these sacred documents. If, therefore, 
any history in existence is worthy of faintest cred- 
it, surely the history which has come down to us 
from the pens of the evangelists and apostles, re- 
cording the ministry, the miracles, and the resur- 



I06 NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPP:i. TEACHINGS. 

rection of Jesus Christ, is entitled to our unquali- 
fied confidence and faith. 

the: character 01^ christ an Kvidence f^oh 
his miraci.ks. 

If any further argument need be offered in 
proof of the gospel miracles we have it in the life 
and character of Him who wrought them. The 
personal character which Christ sustained and the 
divine doctrine which he taught were worthy of 
the seal of the miracles which are ascribed to him. 
That was a sound argument which Nicodemus 
employed in his address to the Saviour, and all 
the ages have felt its force and reechoed its senti- 
ment: '^ Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher 
come from God, for no man can do these miracles 
that thou doest except God be with him." And 
that God was with him as with no other is what 
he claimed and what he abundantly proved. His 
pure, wise, and sinless life, from its beginning to 
its close, was a demonstration of it. Never man 
spake and never man lived as he did. This stands 
confessed alike by friend and foe. He was the 
same in life as in doctrine — holy, harmless, and 
undefiled. By his daily conduct as well as by 
his words he rebuked all that was ungodly, im- 
pure, and false among men. He was ever wise 
and calm and consistent. He never had to retract 



CHRIST'S MIRACI.KS, I07 

a word or regret a deed or to ask pardon of God 
or man. Intellectually and morally, socially and 
personally, in relation to liis kindred or disciples, 
to the friends or the enemies of his ministry, he 
ever rose to the highest idea that we can form of 
a perfect man. He was generous in the midst of 
the selfish, upright in the midst of the dishonest, 
pure in the midst of the sensual, and wise far 
above the wisest of earth's sages or prophets. His 
love for sinful man never wavered and his devotion 
to the Holy Father never flagged or fluctuated. 
At all times and in all places we find him the same 
meek, pure, wise, and godlike Being. 

But, to avoid all suspicion of bias or partiality, 
we let those speak of his life and character who 
cannot be charged with either, and of these the 
competency of the following as judges will not be 
questioned. 

Goethe, who characterises himself as a deci- 
ded non-Christian, says, "The human mind, no 
matter how much it may advance in intellectual 
culture and in the extent and depth of the knowl- 
edge of nature, will never transcend the height 
and moral culture of Christianity as it shines and 
glows in the person of Jesus Christ." 

Rousseau: "I confess that the purity of the 
gospel has its influence on my heart. Is it possi- 
ble that a book at once so simple and sublime 



Io8 NATURAI, I.AWS AND GOSPKI. TKACIIINGS. 

should be merely the work of man? Is It possi- 
ble that the sacred personage whose history it 
contains should be himself a mere man ? What 
sweetness, what purity, in his manners! What an 
affecting gracefulness in his delivery ! What sub- 
limity in his maxims! What profound wisdom 
in his discourses ! What presence of mind in his 
replies ! How great the command over his pas- 
sions ! Where is the man, where the philoso- 
pher, who could so live and so die without weak- 
ness and without ostentation? If the life and 
death of Socrates were those of a sage, the life 
and death of Jesus were those of a God." 

Strauss: ''Jesus represents within the sphere 
of religion the culmination point, beyond which 
posterity can never go, yea, which it cannot even 
equal. He remains the highest model of religion 
within the reach of our thoughts." 

Renan: ''Whatever may be the surprises of 
the future, Jesus will never be surpassed. His 
worship will grow young without ceasing; his 
legend will call forth tears without end; his suf- 
ferings will melt the noblest hearts; all ages will 
proclaim that among the sons of men there is 
none born greater than Jesus." 

Such being the character of Jesus, his enemies 
being judges, we cannot but accept his word and 
admit his miracles. 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. IO9 



PART III. 

NATURAL I.AWS AND ANSWER TO PRAYER. 

Prayer is the appeal of weakness to strength, 
of indigence to sufficiency, of guilt to mercy. In 
other words, prayer is a sense of want addressed 
humbly and devoutly to God in hope of relief. 
The act of praying, therefore, implies three things: 
belief in the presence and agency of God in the 
world, confession of dependence on him, and faith 
in his power to grant what is asked for. Hence 
prayer is a most solemn act of worship. 

PRAYER A DUTY AND A PRIVII.EGE. 

In the Scriptures we are taught that it is 
God's appointment that men should pray for all 
the blessings they need, temporal as well as spir- 
itual, and that it is his good pleasure to grant 
them in answer to their supplications. Prayer is 
a prime doctrine of the Christian system and its 
spirit an essential element in the Christian char- 
acter. To every true disciple of Christ it is both 
a duty and a privilege. Its unremitting exercise 
insures to him the highest benefits. Accordingly 
the Scriptures of the New Testament abound with 



no NATURAI^ LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

precepts directing us to pray, with forms and ex- 
amples teaching us how to pray, and with para- 
bles and promises encouraging us to persevere in 
prayer. No duty is more emphatically enjoined 
than prayer, and no blessing or benefit is more 
positively promised than answer to prayer. Thus 
we read : 

''Men ought always to pray." ''If we ask 
anything according to His will, he heareth us." 
"Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall 
find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." 
"All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, 
believing, ye shall receive." "The same Lord 
over all is rich unto all that call upon him." 

Broad and general as are these precepts and 
promises, we are not to infer from them that every 
petition, though offered in the right spirit, shall 
be answered in the precise manner or measure or 
time we ask. We may in our ignorance ask 
amiss, and infinite wisdom may see that our re- 
quest is not for our good, and infinite love, there- 
fore, may choose to answer differently. They 
who pray aright ever recognize this; they believe 
that God is wiser than they and desire him to take 
his own wiser way in bestowing what they need. 
They defer all to his wisdom and love. To such 
as pray in this spirit the answer is infallible: 
they shall have either what they ask or that which 



ANSWER TO PRAYKR. Ill 

is better. If the desired good be not granted, or 
if the deprecated evil be not averted or removed, 
in virtue of prayer, the privations or afflictions 
they are left to endure shall work in them spirit- 
ual graces for which no amount of earthly suflfer- 
ing can be too great a price. And thus in the 
end it shall be made manifest that no true prayer 
has ever been uttered or breathed in vain. 

OBJECTIONS URGED AGAINST PRAYER. 

Plainly as the duty of prayer is enjoined, and 
positively as answer to prayer is promised in the 
Holy Scriptures, there are found at the present 
day a class of physical philosophers who do not 
hesitate to deny both. Prayer, they tell us, can 
produce no objective results, and its influence, if 
it has any, must be purely a subjective one; in 
other words, prayer, when it is sincere and fer- 
vent, may work beneficial results in ourselves by 
calling into activity various good feelings and 
affections, but it can effect no change, produce 
no good external to ourselves. This objection is 
based on the conception that God, having created 
matter with its various properties and forces, im- 
pressed upon them once for all their invariable 
laws; and that, having thus once set them in mo- 
tion, they go on for ever grinding out their results 
with the uniformity and precision of a machine, 



113 NATURAI. I.AWS AND GOSPKI. TEACHINGS. 

with tlie action of which he never interferes or 
concerns himself. It is alleged that scientific ob- 
servations and experiments prove that the forces, 
laws, and order of natnre are invariable and have 
never once been interfered with by any act or vo- 
lition of the Almighty. From this it is held to 
follow that the prayers of men can exert no influ- 
ence on the Being who created and established 
the universe to induce him to suspend or vary or 
modify any of its operations, and that therefore to 
offer prayer, for any material good at least, is but 
pious folly: the laws of nature are immutable. 

On this ground it is asserted that human sup- 
plications, however earnest or persevering, can 
have no efficacy outside of ourselves, can have no 
influence to procure any external benefits, can 
bring no material good, can ward off* no physical 
evil; in brief, prayer can in no wise change or 
affect man's earthly lot. Profi Tyndall, speak- 
ing with reference to the pious habit of the Tyrol- 
ese in offering annual prayer for favorable weather 
and a fruitful season, says, ^'Science asserts that 
without a disturbance of natural law quite as seri- 
ous as the stoppage of an eclipse or the rolling of 
the St. Ivawrence up the Falls of Niagara no act 
of humiliation, individual or national, could call 
one shower from heaven or deflect towards us a 
single beam of the sun.'' Again, speaking of the 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. II3 

cholera, tlie same authority says, "To alter by 
prayer the consequences of this or any similar 
fact, to deprive by petition a single molecule of 
miasmatic matter of its properties, would, in the 
eye of science, be as much a miracle as to make 
the sun and moon stand still. For one of these 
results neither of us would pray ; on the same 
grounds I refuse to pray for either." Hence it ap- 
pears that, in the estimation and according to the 
teaching of this school of scientists, prayer for daily 
bread or against famine, for health or against dis- 
ease, for safety or against destruction, for prosper- 
ity or against adversity, are equally fruitless and 
can proceed only from ignorance or superstition. 

If the view entertained and thus boldly set 
forth by these objectors be correct, then the teach- 
ings of Jesus Christ cannot be correct, cannot be 
true, for he instructs and commands us to pray for 
our daily bread, for deliverance from evil, for re- 
covery from sickness, for protection amid danger, 
and for the supply of all our wants. To which, 
then, shall we listen? whom shall we follow? 
Those who have slowly and painfully crept up to 
an imperfect acquaintance with some of the work- 
ings of nature's laws? or Him at whose girdle hung 
the key of all knowledge ? Those who by their 
own confession have no practical or personal expe- 
rience of prayer? or Him who was the purest and 

Natural Laws. 3 



114 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

loftiest moral character the world has ever seen, 
and who could lift up his eyes to heaven and say, 
'' Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me, 
and I know that thou hearest me always " ? 

As the precepts and instructions of the Great 
Teacher are in perfect harmony with the law of 
morals, so will they ever be found with the laws 
of nature when these are rightly interpreted. 
What is in harmony with the former cannot be at 
variance with the latter, for both have proceeded 
from '' the one Ivawgiver." 

PRAYER THE VOICE OF NATURE. 

Nature throughout her animated domain is 
constituted on the principle of prayer, and the 
whole organisation of that domain clearly exhib- 
its specific provisions made for answering prayer. 
Without prayer and answer to prayer the course 
of the animate creation as now established would 
be deranged and fail of its most important ends, 
as may easily be shown. 

As already defined, prayer is the cry of want 
or distress, whether articulate or inarticulate in 
its expression. Now the animal world is full of 
such prayers and full of provisions to insure im- 
mediate answers to them. The young brood cry 
for food or for protection from an approaching 
enemy; the parent bird hears and understands 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. II5 

that cry and is endowed with an instinct that 
prompts it instantly to answer it. The lamb 
bleats, and its cry not only brings its dam to its 
side, but also causes a more rapid flow of milk 
to answer that bleating. The lagging little calf 
about to be pounced upon by a wolf bellows for 
help, and instantly the wdiole herd by an impulse 
of their nature rush to his defence. But for such 
answers to animal prayers the races would soon 
die out. Again, the little babe cries for nourish- 
ment or for help, and instinctively the sympathies 
and muscles of the mother are moved to respond 
to the call in the most tender and loving manner. 
A human being whose life is imperilled by fire or 
flood cries for help in his distress, and his fellow- 
creatures by a law of their being are roused to 
exertion and to courage that brave all dangers to 
rescue him. An exploring vessel with its brave 
officers and crew is frozen up and imprisoned in 
the distant and inhospitable regions of the Pole; 
a whole year passes away without a word of 
tidings from them; at length anxiety and alarm 
are felt for their safety, and presently the suffer- 
ers' prayers, though all unheard, move nations to 
pour tens and hundreds of thousands from their 
treasuries to send expeditions by sea and land for 
their deliverance. Thus we find that prayer is 
offered and answered in one way or another by 



Il6 NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPKI. TEACHINGS. 

an ordinance of nature among all animated be- 
ings, from the lowest to the highest. And can 
we suppose that the great Father of all, who has 
instituted this benevolent arrangement among his 
creatures and implanted in them this instinct to 
answer prayer, is himself deaf to the voice of 
prayer when appealed to by his earthly children ? 
Assuredly not; for then the voice of nature would 
contradict the voice of her Maker and belie his 
character to the delusion of his creatures. 

Man, by nature, is a religious being. ^'Our 
religious nature,'' says Prof. Le Conte, *'is a fact, 
an undoubted scientific verity. Even the materi- 
alist must admit it." Prayer is a natural impulse 
in man; he is born with it. Hence prayer has 
been so general a practice of the race through all 
the periods of its history, and is so universal a 
practice now, that it may be safely asserted that 
with mankind at large it is the rule and prayer- 
lessness the rare exception. Possibly a few of the 
lowest and most degraded tribes on the one hand, 
and a few materialistic theorists on the other, may 
never pray; but the mass of mankind recognize a 
higher Being, or beings, with whom they seek 
communication by prayer. Prayerlessness, like 
atheism, is nowhere met with except in an erratic 
condition. In all regions and in all ages the 
great body of the earth's population have instinc- 



Answer to praykr. 117 

lively looked up for relief in their distresses to the 
Power, or powers, they conceived to be above 
them. Erroneous and crude their conceptions of 
that Power may have been, and sensual and grov- 
elling the desires that inspired them, yet in one 
spirit or another prayer million-voiced has ever 
ascended from every inhabited quarter of the 
globe. 

Prayer, then, it may be truly said, is ^'the 
voice of nature," the instinctive cry of creature 
weakness and dependence. In pressing need, in 
imminent danger or helpless suffering, the deep- 
est and the strongest feelings of the human heart 
prompt to prayer. When earthly comforts flee, 
when help from man fails, when hope from the 
world is vanishing, the mind of its own prompt- 
ings rises above every creature relation and goes 
out beyond all that is visible for the succor which 
it needs. In such circumstances the innate reli- 
gious sentiment of the soul is aroused and address- 
es itself to God, and looks to him alone for relief. 
This feeling is universal, is a general fact of na- 
ture, as clearly recognizable as the action of heat 
or the force of gravitation. In every region of 
the earth, where the Bible is and where it is not, 
man's heart in one way or another cries out for 
the living God. 

What has been thus so deeply and so univer- 



Il8 NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPKIv TEACHINGS. 

Sally implanted by the Creator in the heart of man 
must be in harmony with His arrangements of the 
world around him and with the principles of His 
government over him; for there are no jars, no 
gaps, no discordant or disconnected parts, in the 
system of his creation. Inborn religious senti- 
ment prompting to prayer is a veritable element 
in that system, is an actual fact in the universe; 
and therefore must be in harmony with the laws 
of the universe. 

If God has so constituted his creature man that 
he naturally and instinctively turns to Him in his 
wants and extremities, we may be sure that a due 
provision has been made whereby his prayers may 
be answered, unless we believe that this religious 
instinct has been given to deceive and delude 
him, given to excite hopes that must end in the 
sadness of disappointment. But this would be an 
aspersion of both the wisdom and the goodness of 
the Creator. In all nature we find no faculty, no 
organ, no appetite, for the exercise and gratifica- 
tion of which due and fitting provision has not 
been made. God had never implanted the cra- 
vings of hunger and thirst had he not also provided 
means to satisfy them: he had never formed the 
lungs had he not likewise created the atmosphere 
to fill them; and he had not formed the eye if 
there existed no li^ht to illumine it. So the all- 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. II9 

Wise and loving Father of all would never have 
implanted these promptings to prayer in the hu- 
man breast had he not also ordained a way and 
means to answer these prayers. To imbue man 
with a religious sentiment that quickens him to 
cry unto God, and then place him in a world un- 
der the control of a set of unconscious forces and 
inflexible laws that admit not of an answer to 
those cries, would be as though the Creator had 
implanted in the nev/-born infant the strong and 
craving instinct which leads it to seek and to 
draw the mother's breast, while he had so formed 
that breast that not a drop of milk could ever flow 
into it or out of it. Thus, nature herself not only 
repudiates the charge that her laws forbid an an- 
swer to the prayers of men, but also gives assu- 
rance that the ear of their Father in heaven is ever 
open to hear and his heart ever ready to answer 
them as may be for their best welfare. 

Leaving the evidence thus supplied by general 
principles and the established order of nature, we 
now advance to an argument of a more direct 
character, and shall show that the fixedness or 
uniformity of nature's laws, even as viewed by 
the materialist, offer no impediment to the an- 
swering of the most important prayers offered by 
the Christian in their full and literal import. 



120 NATURAI, I,AWS AND GOSPKl. TKACIIINGS. 
PRAYER ANSWERED BY INFI.UENCE ON MINDS. 

The most important and most numerous class 
of prayers offered by the Christian may be an- 
swered by direct spiritual influence on the 7nmd — 
the mind of him who prays or the minds of those 
for whom prayer is made. And all such answers 
are independent of all physical laws and lie with- 
out their sphere or dominion. 

That mind can act upon mind and spirit in- 
fluence spirit are facts that need no proof, for we 
daily observe them between man and man. And 
to such influence the laws of matter present no 
hindrance; they neither affect it nor are affected 
by it. When, for example, the gospel preacher 
or the philosophical lecturer, by his presentation 
of truths or facts or motives, so far influences the 
minds of the whole audience before him as to 
change their views and principles and actions for 
all time to come, the laws of nature are in nowise 
involved in this mental change. The laws of 
matter and the laws of mind are essentially dif- 
ferent and distinct, and the action of the latter 
neither clashes nor interferes with that of the 
former. 

Now, the orator exerts such influence by open- 
ing the mental eye of those who listen to him to 
see things in a different light, and by transmit- 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 121 

ting in some mysterious way his own emotions 
and sympathies, his own spirit, into their hearts. 
The speaker aflfects the hearer by sympathy as 
well as by reasoning. And thus one mind has 
often been observed to sway the minds of a whole 
multitude as sways the wind a whole forest. 

If then the finite mind of man can thus influ- 
ence the minds of others, much more can the Infi- 
nite Mind influence the minds of all his creatures. 
And as the laws of the physical world do not 
dominate in the mental and moral world. He can 
do this without the slio^htest interference with the 
established order of material nature. As he is 
ever present with each human soul and intimate- 
ly conversant with all its hidden springs of 
thought and emotion, he can impart light or sug- 
gest ideas or present motives or rouse feelings 
such as may decide the judgment, influence the 
heart, and determine the actions of any living 
man, and that without in any degree forcing his 
will or violating his free moral agency. Now the 
bearing of this indisputable truth on answer to 
prayer is very broad, much broader indeed than 
many seem to apprehend. We shall here, there- 
fore, by way of illustration, apply it to several 
classes of prayer. 

I. Prayer for ptu'ely spiritual blessings. These 
are what occupy the foremost place in the Chris- 



12^ NATURAI. hAYVS AND GOSPKl. Tl^ACHINGS. 

tian's supplications: the pardon of sin, the growth 
of faith and love, the increase of spiritual strength 
to struggle successfully against temptation, wis- 
dom to fulfil all duty, and grace to bring all in- 
ward desires and propensities into conformity 
with the will of God. These are the burden of 
his prayers and hold the first and highest place in 
his mind as he bends his knees before the Father 
of mercies. Now, as all these are gracious bless- 
ings proceeding from the Holy Spirit of God and 
received into the waiting spirit of man, it is obvi- 
ous that air prayers offered for them can be an- 
swered without the slightest intervention with 
any of the laws or forces of material nature. 

2. Prayer for the conversion of sinners. This, 
both in its nature and object, is the same as the 
preceding; it is asking that the same blessings we 
seek for ourselves may be bestowed upon others. 
Answer to these prayers, therefore, involves no 
more interference with natural laws than the 
former; neither does it require any infringement 
on the freedom of the will in those for whom 
prayer is offered. As we, by instruction or per- 
suasion, can influence the mind and change the 
conduct of our friends without violating their free 
will, so God, in answer to our prayers, can by his 
Spirit enlighten the minds and move the hearts 
of men, and thus influence them to pursue a course 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 1 23 

of holy living without in any sense affecting their 
freedom. And that such gracious influence has 
often followed the prayers of Christians abundant 
evidence might readily be given. 

3. Prayer for the prosperity of benevolent institii" 
tions. This likewise may be answered by favor- 
ing influence on human minds. Take, for exam- 
ple, a missionary society. Prayers for this may 
be answered by influencing the minds of men to 
contribute liberally of their substance for its sup- 
port, by influencing the minds of its missionaries 
as they deliver the message of the gospel, and by 
influencing the minds of the heathen as they lis- 
ten to it. So of seminaries, colleges, hospitals, etc. 

4. Prayer for tJie defeat of the purposes and plots 
of iniquity. History abounds with instances where 
such prayer has been signally answered by im- 
pressions made on the minds of men. The inhu- 
man purpose of Jacob's sons to kill their younger 
brother Joseph, by an impression first on the mind 
of Reuben and then on that of Judah, was not 
only frustrated but made to pave the way for that 
brother's high promotion in the land of Egypt. A 
tender impression made, in answer to the prayers 
of Amram and Jochebed, on the mind of Pharaoh's 
daughter through the tears and beauty of the babe 
Moses not only defeated the cruel edict that 
doomed him to perish in the Nile, but secured 



124 NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPKI. TEACHINGS. 

for him a princely education, which fitted him to 
become the future leader and lawgiver of Israel. 
Haman's plot to cut off all the Jews throughout 
Persia in one day, in answer to Esther's prayers 
and fasting was foiled through a powerful impres- 
sion made on the mind of King Ahasuerus, which 
took from him even his sleep. Herod's murder- 
ous design to destroy the infant Saviour was de- 
feated by an impression made on the mind of 
Joseph in a dream. The soldiers' counsel to kill 
Paul together with all the other prisoners was set 
aside by a friendly impression wrought on the 
mind of the centurion. The ''Gunpowder Plot" 
to blow up the whole English Parliament was dis- 
covered and defeated by a mysterious impression 
made on the mind of Eord Monteagle, The life 
of Howard, the great philanthropist, was saved 
from the assassin's dagger by an unaccountable 
impression which induced him to take a different 
road to church from that which he usually fol- 
lowed. Thus history is full of illustrations of the 
truth that in answer to prayer the plots of the 
wicked, the projects of ambition and resentment, 
the rage of persecution, and the vindictive de- 
signs of pride, envy, and jealousy may not only 
be defeated, but turned to accomplish opposite 
and even beneficent ends; and all this without any 
disturbance of the laws of mind or matter. 



ANSWKR TO PRAYKR. 125 

5. Prayer for success m worldly business. This 
is a lawful and fitting prayer to be offered by the 
farmer and mechanic, the merchant and the man- 
ufacturer; and it may be favorably answered by 
guiding his mind in forming and carrying out his 
plans, by inclining the minds of those he employs 
to fidelity, and by inspiring the minds of those 
with whom he deals with confidence in his truth- 
fulness and honesty. How^ much all this may 
contribute to a man's w^orldly success needs no 
proof or illustration. And the public mind, how 
easily may this be influenced for the making or 
the ruining of men! The business mind of the 
country is as sensitive to any rumor, good or bad, 
as the thermometer is to heat or cold. What tri- 
fles often serve to elevate or depress the markets, 
to advance or reduce the price of stocks, to enli- 
ven or dampen trade! A w'hisper of suspicion is 
sufficient to create a panic that shall bring a 
'*run " upon a bank or distress upon a merchant- 
house, and a breath of confidence may serve to 
save and restore both. It is obvious hence that 
prayer for success in business may be effectually 
answered by mere influence upon minds. 

6. Prayer for safety in travelling. This too is 
an authorized and proper prayer, and an answer 
to it may not require any infraction or suspension 
of the laws which o^overu the winds or the waves 



126 NATURAL I.AWS AND GOSPEI^ TKACHINGS. 

or any other element. It may be answered simply 
by an influence on the traveller's own mind, in 
deciding when he shall start, in choosing his route, 
or in selecting his train; or it may be answered 
by an influence on the minds of those who have 
the management of his train committed to their 
care — the conductor, engineer, brakeman, switch- 
man, signal tenders, and telegraph operators : 
how much does the safety of every traveller de- 
pend upon the fidelity and promptness of all these! 
Or, take the voyager. He leaves the harbor to 
cross the ocean with such a prayer on his lips. 
That prayer may be answered through an insensi- 
ble influence exerted upon the minds of those who 
have the direction of the vessel in their hands, 
deciding the commands of the mate, the watchful- 
ness of the lookout, or the action of the steersman 
in a critical moment; or it may be answered by 
inclining the captain's mind at the outset to steer 
a few points to the right or to the left of his usual 
course, and thus sail clear of the iceberg envel- 
oped in fog, or of the ship coming in the opposite 
direction in the darkness of night, or of the spot 
where shall descend the destructive thunderbolt, 
or of the track of the cyclone that shall rush in 
its fury over the deep. God is not shut up to the 
performance of a miracle in order to answer the 
prayer and insure the safety of such as trust in him. 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 127 

7. Prayer for protection in battle. An answer 
even to such a prayer does not necessarily require 
any interference with physical laws ; influence 
upon mind, the suppliant's own mind or that of 
others, may be quite sufficient for this. Battles 
are fought by the minds of men and not by their 
bodies alone. The line of march and the position 
to be taken are determined by some mind; every 
movement and manoeuvre on the field of conflict is 
ordered by some mind, the direction and moment 
of firing every ball are decided by some mind, and 
every step and attitude taken by the sui^pliant 
himself is suggested by his own mind. And as 
the Infinite Mind is present with all, v/ith foe as 
well as friend, and can by unfelt and unknown 
influence quicken or retard or change any or all 
of these decisions, or frustrate the execution of 
them by haste or indecision, by dejecting the 
hearts of the brave with sudden terror or render- 
ing the hand of the strong v/eak and trembling in 
the decisive moment — as all this is quite possible 
to Him, it is obvious that he can with infinite 
ease answer the prayer of the devout soldier and 
bring him unharmed out of the hottest of the con- 
flict without deflecting a ball or shivering a sword 
contrary to the laws of nature. 

Many well authenticated facts might readily 
be adduced to show how an overruling providence 



128 NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

influences and directs the minds of men when 
they least think of it, but we confine ourselves to 
a single instance. In our own Revolutionary 
War, during the two days' skirmishing which 
immediately preceded the battle of Brandywine, 
the following startling incident occurred: ''We 
had not lain long," relates an officer in the Eng- 
lish army, ''when a rebel hussar, followed by an 
officer dressed in dark green, mounted on a bay 
horse, pressed within a few hundred feet of my 
right flank, not perceiving us. I ordered three 
good marksmen to steal near and fire at them ; but 
the idea disgusting me, I recalled the order. The 
hussar in returning made a circuit, but the other 
passed within a hundred yards of us, upon which 
I advanced from the w^oods towards him. Upon 
my calling he stopped; but after looking at me 
he proceeded. I again drew his attention and 
made signs to him to stop, levelling my piece at 
him, but he slowly cantered away. I was within 
a distance that I could have lodged half a dozen 
balls in him before he could be out of my reach; 
I had only to determine. But it was not pleasant 
to fire at the back of an individual coolly doing his 
duty, so I let him alone. The next day I learned 
through a surgeon who had been dressing the 
wounds of some rebel officers that the individual 
I had thus spared was none other than Gen, George 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 1 29 

Washington himself. And I am not sorry that I 
did not know at the time who he was."* How 
remarkable is all this ! Here, by a mere mental 
impression, a veteran ofHcer is once and again led 
to act contrary to the common usage of war and 
to spare an enemy who was reconnoitring his 
own position. But what issues hung upon that 
unaccountable impression ! Had Washington then 
fallen what had been the end of the Revolutionary 
struggle, or what had been the subsequent condi- 
tion of this country ? In all probability something 
very different from what its actual history has 
been. 

8. P^'ayer for recove7y in siclzness. The prayer 
of faith in such a condition, the Scripture assures 
us, availeth much, and, without '^depriving one 
miasmatic molecule of its properties" by a mira- 
cle, may be answered in various ways. 

In answer to such a prayer the physician's 
mind, in the exercise of his professional knowl- 
edge and experience, may be guided to a correct 
judgment or diagnosis of the disease and to the 
best remedy for it, and thus be enabled, through 
the use of natural means, to restore his patient to 
health again. 

In answer to the prayer of the sick the Holy 
Spirit may beget in him a trusting and hopeful 
■^ Major Ferguson's '' Private LeUers.'* 

Natural Laws. C\ 



130 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

frame of mind, which in the judgment of medical 
authorities is always helpful to recovery. 

In answer to prayer, when all symptoms are 
discouraging, the divine Spirit may produce in 
the sufferer a calm resignation to the will of God 
which never fails to lighten and relieve his bur- 
den, whatever his affliction may be. 

In answer to prayer the Spirit of grace may 
inspire the soul with faith in Christ which shall 
enable the sick to rise superior to all the fears and 
sufferings of dissolution, and thus triumph over 
death itself. 

Reviewing all the foregoing classes of prayer, 
we see that the field where answer may be given, 
independently of all natural laws, is very broad 
and large; that the most important petitions that 
we need or can offer may be granted by influence 
on mind alone. And when all such prayers are 
thus answered how little more is left for the 
Christian to desire ! We see also to what narrow 
limits the territory is reduced which the material- 
ist can in any wise dispute; nor are we called upon 
to yield him even this. 

PRAYER ANSWERABLE THROUGH INVARIABLE 

LAWS. 

The Scriptures teach us both by precept and 
example that we may pray for material blessings — 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 131 

for food, for favorable weather, for fruitful sea- 
sons for protection from disease and from natural 
calamities. And we now propose to sliow that 
answer to such prayers may be granted in perfect 
harmony with the workings of all natural laws. 

This brings us face to face with the alleged 
scientific difficulty. It Is urged, as before stated, 
that answer to such prayers would require a vio- 
lation or suspension of the laws c-f nature, and 
therefore Is not to be looked for. As these laws 
are established and Immutable, no Interruption or 
suspension of them having ever been known, it is 
asserted that human petitions can have no influ- 
ence in procuring such blessings. The silent and 
undeviating march of natural order, we are told, 
leaves no room for such answers; physical laws 
are unalterable in their action, and neither change 
nor bend nor yield either to accomplish or defeat 
any result in which the interests of mortals may 
be involved. Prayers directed for such ends, 
therefore, are equally vain and delusive. 

The general constancy of nature in all her op- 
erations is universally acknowledged and acted 
upon. It is freely admitted that all the forces of 
nature — gravitation, chemical affinity, light, heat, 
magnetism, and electricity — act according to uni- 
form and unvaried laws; that on sea and land, on 
plain and mountain-top, each individual force acts 



132 NATURxlI, I^AWS AND GOSPEI. TKACHINGS. 

under tlie same measures, weights, numbers, and 
limitations at all times and under all circum- 
stances. 

All tins is true, but it is only a part of the 
truth. There is another general fact which is 
equally well established, namely, that no one law 
or force determines anything that we see take 
place or done around us. Every change or prod- 
uct or result that w^e witness in nature is the 
effect of a combination of different forces. A shower 
of rain, for example, is not the result of one force, 
but of the combination of several forces — of heat, 
electricity, chemical affinity, and gravitation — and 
the action of each of these forces in such a com- 
bination is modified by that of all the others ; 
hence we have showers more or less frequent, more 
or less copious. And the wind: neither the speed 
nor the direction nor the temperature of this is 
determined by any one force, but by a combination 
of causes — solar heat, electric currents, aqueous 
vapors, etc. ; and as the one or the other of these 
predominates in energy we have wind from this 
or that quarter, strong wind or a gentle breeze. 
A tree or a bush or an apple or an ear of wheat 
is not the product of one force, but of the combined 
action of many forces; and any variation in one 
force caused by the other forces produces a greater 
or less change in the result; hence our crops in 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 1 33 

diflfereiit years vary both in quantity and quality. 
So, then, while it is true that each law or force is 
unvaried in its action, yet it produces the same 
effect only when it w^orks under the same condi- 
tions in reference to other laws or forces. When 
these conditions are changed the effect likewise is 
changed. And, as these conditions or combina- 
tions are susceptible of endless variations, the re- 
sults may be endlessly varied. 

'*When scientific men speak, as they often 
do," says the Duke of Argyll, "of all phenomena 
being governed by invariable law^s they use lan- 
guage which is ambiguous, and in most cases they 
use it in a sense which covers an erroneous idea 
of the facts. There are no phenomena visible to 
man of which it is true to say that they are gov- 
erned by any invariable force. That which does 
govern them is always some variable combination 
of invariable forces. But this makes all the dif- 
ference in reasoning on the relation of will to 
law, of providence to physical affairs; this is the 
one essential distinction to be admitted and ob- 
served. There is no observed order of facts which 
is not due to a combination of forces, and there is 
no combination of forces which is invariable — 
none w^hich are not capable of change in infinite 
degrees. In these senses — and these are the com- 
mon senses in which law is used to express the 



134 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPIi:i. TEACHINGS. 

phenomena of nature — law is not rigid, is not im- 
mutable: it is not invariable, but is, on the con- 
trary, pliable, subtle, and various/'* 

In illustration of these statements we here pre- 
sent a few examples of the variable results pro- 
duced by invariable laws acting in different com- 
binations. '^The course of nature," says John 
Stuart Mill, ''has not been uniform, but infi- 
nitely various." Variation and change are ob- 
servable in every department of the creation. We 
speak of the planets being governed by the im- 
mutable laws of motion and gravitation, but so 
manifold are the perturbations produced by their 
mutual attractions that no planet in the system, 
strictly speaking, ever twice describes precisely 
the same orbit round the sun. We are told that 
the action of the physical forces on the earth has 
been uniform through all the periods of its geo- 
logical history, yet how endlessly varied have 
been the results produced by these forces, how 
amazing the changes through which it is sup- 
posed to have passed ! — in its beginning a molten 
sphere enveloped in a dense atmosphere of steam ; 
afterwards enswathed in a shoreless ocean; at a 
later period exhibiting continents and islands all 
clothed with a luxuriant vegetation; at a later 
period still encased in ice and snow from pole 
* The '^ Reign of Law," Chap. 2. 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 135 

to pole; while at the present we find it enjoy- 
ing every pleasing diversity of both soil and cli- 
mate. Well might Sir Charles Lyell say, '^Any 
one who presumes to dogmatize respecting the 
absolute uniformity of the order of nature is re- 
buked by geological evidence of the changes which 
that order has already undergone." Again, the 
forces of nature, individually, operate uniformly 
throughout the year; yet by different combina- 
tions of these forces we have the cold and barren- 
ness of winter at one time and the warmth and 
luxuriance of summer at another. The recurrent 
order of the seasons is produced by invariable 
causes; yet since the v/orld began no season has 
ever been exactly like another. The sun shines 
uniformly and the gases and vapors composing 
the atmosphere ever remxain obedient to their re- 
spective laws, but for all this the temperature has 
often been known to change 20 or 30 or even 40 
degrees within a few hours. The general econ- 
omy of physical nature continues the same, yet 
one season proves eminently favorable to the de- 
velopment and prevalence of cholera or yellow- 
fever, while the next may forbid even the appear- 
ance of these scourges; or one summer may be 
marked by a damaging excess of rain and the 
next by a protracted and Vv^ithering drought; or 
one year may be rendered memorable for its fre- 



136 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINGS. 

queut tornadoes and earthquakes, while those that 
follow shall witness none of these terrible phe- 
nomena. In not one of these cases is any phys- 
ical law violated or suspended or modified; all 
are the results of different combinations of these 
laws. 

From facts such as these it is evident that the 
earth and the sea and the air might be made to 
pass through almost any imaginable changes,* and 
that the living inhabitants of the world might be 
subjected to any sort or amount of physical evil 
or be favored with any kind or degree of material 
good — might be visited with a drought or a del- 
uge, with fruitful seasons or blighted fields, with 
an atmosphere that is salubrious or pestilential — 
without the slightest interference with the uni- 
form operation of any one law of nature. The 
fixedness of physical laws, therefore, does not, as 
the objectors set forth, necessarily exclude all an- 
swer to prayer for material favors. All the an- 
swers which the Scriptures promise and which 
the Christian desires may be granted by adjust- 
ment or combination of these laws. In the end- 
less combinations of which the established forces 
of the universe are susceptible God has ready to 
his hand suitable and abundant resources to bring 
about in answer to the prayers of the faithful 
whatever change or result He may see in his in- 



ANSWER TO PRAYKR. I37 

finite wisdom to be for their benefit without vio- 
lating or suspending any one law of nature. 

ANSWER TO PRAYER AND THE CONSERVATION 

OF FORCE. 

Here it may be asked, by way of objection to 
all that has now been said, ^'But does God ever 
interpose to produce such combinations? How 
about the doctrine of the conservation of force? 
Does not this exclude the idea of any divine agen- 
cy being exercised in the system of nature for the 
answering of such prayers ?' ' 

Well, and what is this doctrine of conserva- 
tion? Simply that the stun of all the physical 
energies of the universe is believed to be always 
the same. Or, to express it more fully, that while 
the various forces of nature are so related as to be 
mutually convertible, that is, motion may be con- 
verted into heat, heat into electricity, electricity 
into light, etc., no one of them can make its ap- 
pearance in a new or different form without an 
equivalent expenditure of some other force, so that 
the sttm of all remains ever a constant quantity. 
Hence it is inferred that the divine energy can 
have no place or part in the workings of the uni- 
verse, that ''no personal volition can mix itself 
in the economy of nature" at the call of any 
prayer of man. 



138 NATURAIv LAVx^S AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

This objection naturally and at once suggests 
tlie question, Is this doctrine of conservation true? 
has it been proved? '^If true," says Balfour 
Stewart, one of the foremost of living physicists, 
''if true, its truth certainly cannot be proved after 
the manner in which we prove a proposition in 
Euclid; nor does it even adm.it of a proof so rigid 
as that of the conservation of matter." This 
doctrine rests altogether on indirect proof derived 
from very limited and defective experiments, and 
the evidence that can be obtained for it in this 
way is only approximative. In all the experi- 
ments ever made there has always been a certain 
discrepance between the sum of the force started 
with, in one form, and the sum recovered, in an- 
other form. ''Absolute equality," says Javon, 
"is always a matter of assumption." Such is 
the narrow and uncertain foundation upon which 
rests the astounding assertion that the divine 
agency can have no place or part in the operations 
of nature. It is not without good reason, there- 
fore, that Prof. Bowne makes the energetic re- 
mark, "It is a vexatiously common error with 
semi-scientific speculators to affirm the doctrine 
of conservation to be absolute, and then to con- 
clude that there can be no vital or spontaneous 
agent in the system. The fallacy is evident, for 
it consists in deducing the premises from the con- 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 1 39 

elusion, which in turn is true only on the pre-as- 
sumed truth of the premises." 

That the divine will can interpose to produce 
any required combinations of the physical forces, 
whatever of truth may be in the doctrine of con- 
servation, is obvious from what the will of man 
is able to effect among them. Will is an acknowl- 
edged source of power, and it is an indisputable 
fact that the will of man can counteract, modify, 
and direct, to a certain extent, any of the various 
forces of nature. Daily observation and experi- 
ence prove that man, by the agency of his intelli- 
gent volition, combines and directs these forces 
every day, whereby he brings about results wholly 
different from those which would have taken 
place except for such combination and direction. 
And how numerous and diversified are the com- 
binations of these forces which he has been able 
to effect, and how surprising the results produced 
by them ! His steam engines, his telegraphs, 
telephones, telescopes, spectroscopes, balloons, 
diving-bells, musical instruments, electric ma- 
chines, chemical retorts, and a hundred other in- 
ventions — what are they? Simply contrivances 
to produce special combinations and adjustments 
of the forces of nature. None of these create 
force in any sense or degree; they only combine 
existing forces. And though by means of them 



140 NATURAI, I,AWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

he has been able to alter climate, to raise and 
lower temperature, to increase and diminish the 
fall of rain, to improve the soil, to multiply food, 
to banish disease, and to change the face of the 
earth and the condition of its inhabitants, yet no 
difficulty or check from the doctrine of conserva- 
tion has been experienced in accomplishing all 
this. Much less, then, can this doctrine present 
any impediment to the divine will. 

In illustration of this point we may go farther 
than anything that man has actually accomplished 
and yet remain within the limits of what is possi- 
ble to him. If the waters of the Mediterranean, 
as lately proposed, were made to flow in upon the 
lower level of the Desert of Sahara and convert a 
large portion of its surface into a lake, it would 
produce such new meteorological combinations as 
would change the whole aspect and condition of 
the surrounding region for thousands of miles. 
Or, what is not an impossibility, if a canal were 
cut across the Isthmus of Panama of sufficient ca- 
pacity to divert the Gulf Stream from its present 
course and allow it to flow directly into the Pacif- 
ic, instead of turning northward along the Amer- 
ican coast, there would follow such a new combi- 
nation of the elements as would change the pres- 
ent genial climate of the British Isles and North- 
western Europe into one as rigorous as that of 



ANSWER TO PRAYKR. 141 

Labrador. Yet were both these schemes accom- 
plished, great as would be the changes that would 
follow, a Tyndall or a Faraday, experimenting 
and philosophizing on the forces of nature in New 
Zealand, supposing he had received no informa- 
tion of them, would never dream that such new 
combinations had been formed or that the doc- 
trine of conservation had been in any wise affected. 
All things would continue to him as they were 
from the beginning. So if the divine will saw fit 
to effect certain meteorological combinations in 
order to bring on rain or to ward off disease, in 
answer to the prayers of a prostrate nation, no ex- 
periment of man, no application of his doctrine 
of the conservation of energy, would ever discover 
that his volition had been concerned in bringing 
about the result. 

If the will of man, then, with his short insight 
into nature and with his feeble powers to control 
it, is able to do so much to direct and combine its 
forces to bring about different results, what may 
not the v/ill of Him who is almighty and omnis- 
cient be able to accomplish ? What combinations 
and adjustments may He not be able to effect in 
perfect harmony with the observed order of na- 
ture ? All proper conceptions of God as an omni- 
present, omniscient, and omnipotent Being bind 
us to believe that He is present — present in all 



142 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSrEL TEACHINGS. 

the fulness of liis perfections — at each point of 
space and through each instant of time; that He 
momentarily stands in immediate and active con- 
nection with every particle of matter in the uni- 
verse — as immediate and active as in the moment 
of its creation. He may therefore put forth an 
influence among physical agents for their combi- 
nation and direction beyond the reach of man's 
vision or sagacity; may determine their balan- 
cings where human science cannot trace nor hu- 
man instruments detect the influence of his power, 
where all energy and all laws known to man are 
merged and lost in the divine volition whence all 
laws and all forces are derived. From the inex- 
haustible magazine of ^possible combinations the 
Governor of the world can draw with infallible 
skill the agencies of his dispensations towards 
every human being and every living thing. All 
the energy in operation or in existence in the uni- 
verse beino: none other than enero^v derived from 
his own omnipotent will, He can with infinite 
ease, in answer to his people's cry, send or with- 
hold rain, restore health or ward off disease, grant 
favoring winds to the mariner or fruitful seasons 
to the husbandman, in perfect harmony with all 
the known laws of nature. And when we pray 
for such favors we do not look for a miracle; we 
do not ask God to violate or suspend or depart 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 1 43 

from any of the laws which he has established, 
but to direct their wonted operations so as to bring 
lis whatever his infinite wisdom and love may see 
best for us. 

CONCI.USION. 

The laws of nature, then, rightly understood 
in their mutual influence and combined activity 
and rightly apprehended in their relation to the 
Great Ruler of all, present neither obstacle nor 
discouragement to prayer even for material bless- 
ings and temporal favors. And concerning the 
attitude and spirit of those who represent them as 
being such we can employ no language more 
truthful or fitting than that of the distinguished 
Dr. William B. Carpenter, in his masterly address 
on retiring as the president of the British Associ- 
ation for the Advancement of Science in 1872. 
' ^ To set up these laws, ' ' he says, ' ' as self-acting 
and as either excluding or rendering unnecessary 
the Power which alone can give them effect ap- 
pears to me as arrogant as it is unphilosophical. 
To speak of any law as regulating or governing 
phenomena is only permissible on the assumption 
that the law is the expression of the modus operandi 
of the governing Power. Those who set up their 
own conceptions of the orderly sequence which 
they discern in the phenomena of nature as fixed 



144 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

and determinate laws, by wliicli these phenomena 
not only are, but always have been and always 
must be invariably governed, are really guilty of 
the intellectual arrogance they condemn in the 
systems of the ancients and place themselves in 
diametrical antagonism to those real philosophers 
by whose comprehensive grasp and penetrating 
insight that order has been so far disclosed. The 
order of nature is worshipped as itself a god by 
the class of interpreters whose doctrine I call in 
question. The real philosopher is one who al- 
ways loves truth better than his system." 

A few years ago it was proposed by one of this 
class to reduce prayer to an experimental test by 
selecting a certain ward in a hospital to be made 
a special object of prayer and another ward for 
which no prayer should be offered, and then at 
the end of a specified period compare the results 
in deaths and recoveries in these two wards as 
evidence of the efficacy of prayer. We need not 
stop to show that such a proposition clearly indi- 
cates in its author an utter misconception of both 
the nature and conditions of true prayer. To test 
the efficacy of prayer is indeed perfectly legiti- 
mate, not, however, in the skeptical spirit in 
which this proposal was made, but with a hum- 
ble and honest heart. Whoever shall thits make 
trial of the benefit of prayer will find the most 



ANSWER TO TRAYKR. 145 

convincing of all proofs in his own liappy experi- 
ence. // is good for vie to di^azv near to God has 
been the testimony of millions in the ages past 
and is the testimony of millions to-day, among 
whom are numbered not a few of those who stand 
in the foremost ranks of science. And in closing 
I would say to my unbelieving reader, let him 
make but the humble and honest trial and he will 
not long stand in doubt. However inexplicable 
may appear to him the divine agency in the gov- 
ernment of the world and whatever seeminof or 
real contradictions, anomalies, or enigmas he may 
witness in life, he will soon attain to a conscious- 
ness that will brush all these difficulties aside as 
so many cobwebs that had blurred his vision. 
And henceforth, in whatever place he shall bow 
his head in sincere worship, he will find it good 
to be there. As often as in humble and earnest 
prayer he shall seek light in the perplexities of 
duty or help in the hard battle of life, there will 
come from above a beam that shall illumine his 
pathway and grace that shall strengthen and nerve 
him for the conflict. ''They that wait upon the 
Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount 
up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not 
be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." 



Natural Laws. JQ 



146 NATURAIv I.AWS AND GOSPI^I. T£:ACHINGS. 



PART IV. 

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 

The resurrection of the dead is a doctrine of 
pure revelation. Natural reason did not discover 
or conceive it. The nearest approach to it ever 
made by heathen sages appears to be the notion 
of metempsychosis, or the passing of the souls of 
deceased men into the bodies of various animals — 
a condition which was to them not so much an 
object of hope as of dread, being a state of indefi- 
nite purgatory. Of resurrection proper they had 
no conception; and when it was announced to 
some of the wisest among them, they deemed it a 
thing incredible and scoffed at it. 

This doctrine is peculiar to the inspired Scrip- 
tures. Intimations of it, and even some general 
statements concerning it, are to be found in the 
Old Testament. As on many other truths, more 
and more light was given on this subject with the 
progressive development of God's will and purpose 
concerning men. Job, David, Isaiah, and Dan- 
iel successively speak of it in terms ever growing 
more lucid and definite. And towards the close 
of that ancient dispensation we find that it was a 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 147 

prevailing doctrine among the Jews. But its more 
particular and full revelation was reserved to be 
made by Christ and his apostles, who taught it in 
positive and explicit terms, such as the follovv^ing: 

''The hour is coming in which all that are in 
the grave shall hear his voice and shall come 
forth; they that have done good imto the resur- 
rection of life, and thev that have done evil unto 
the resurrection of judgment." 

'' The Lord himself shall descend from heaven 
with a shout and with the voice of the archangel 
and with the trump of God: and the dead in 
Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that 
are left, shall together with them be caught up 
into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and 
so shall we ever be with the Lord." 

Such are the clear announcements made in the 
gospel concerning the wonderful change that is to 
pass upon the living and the dead at the last day. 

DIFFICULTIES PRESENTED BY THE DOCTRINE. 

That the dead — all the dead of the human 
race — should be raised to life again at the final 
day is an event so wonderful, and to natural rea- 
son so improbable, that it has given rise to many 
skeptical and perplexing questions. It has been 
asked. When the body has been utterly dissolved 
and its constituents scattered by winds and waves 



148 NATURAL I.AWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

to be mingled with a thousand other substances, 
how is it possible that they should be re-collected 
and reorganised again? When the materials 
composing the body have gone to nourish plants 
and trees and become parts of their leaves and 
flowers and fruits, and w^ien these again have be- 
come food for beasts and birds and fishes and thus 
been compounded into their bodies, how can these 
materials be brought together again and be mould- 
ed into a human frame as before ? Again, If all 
its particles could be found and collected, will 
they be fashioned into a body of the same form 
and features as that buried? Will the aged be 
raised as aged, the youth as youth, and those who 
died in infancy as infants? Again, Will all the 
matter which at any time entered into its compo- 
sition during life be employed to form the resur- 
rection body, or only that which belonged to it at 
the moment of death? And again, If the same 
particles of matter have at successive periods 
formed part of two different bodies, as in the case 
of a cannibal and his victim, how can those self- 
same particles be given to each of these claimants? 
These and other like questions will be best an- 
swered by presenting the exact statements of Scrip- 
ture concerning the resurrection body in connec- 
tion with the physiological facts ascertained re- 
specting the composition, growth, and decay of 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 149 

the present body. This we shall now attempt to 
do. 

HOW THE BODY IS BUII.T UP. 

All the substances which enter into the com- 
position of our frames come from without. The 
body, admirable as all its parts and functions are, 
can create nothing; every ounce added to its 
weight and every inch added to its dimensions, 
from earliest infancy to full-grown manhood, are 
produced by materials drawn from the external 
world. And now let us glance at the several w^ays 
in which these are obtained and employed to build 
it up and to preserve it in health, vigor, and ac- 
tivity. 

The first and most obvious supply of materials 
for building up the body comes from th^ food \yq 
eat. This, after undergoing the chemical changes 
produced in the stomach, is carried forward into 
the intestines, and in passing through these the 
nutritive parts are strained oflF by innumerable 
minute orifices, called lacteals^ w^hich, through 
their hair-like pipes and by successive steps, unite 
their contents and discharge them by the thoracic 
duct into the jugular vein to mingle with the 
blood, which is carried directly into the heart, to 
be propelled by this through the arteries to every 
member and portion of the body to supply the 
material necessary for their construction and per- 



150 NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINGS. 

petual repair. Under the mysterious guidance of 
the vital principle every particular part of the 
body selects from this nourishing blood the special 
chemical compounds which are required for the 
formation of its own peculiar substance or for the 
discharge of its special function. Thus the bones 
specially select and appropriate phosphate of lime, 
while the muscles take phosphate of magnesia and 
phosphate of potash. The cartilages choose and 
grow on soda; the teeth extract fluorine; the hair, 
skin, and nails select and ahnost monopolize the 
silica; the eye and the hair extract the iron to 
form their pigment; the brain gathers largely of 
the phosphorus. Thus to each part of the body 
certain chemical substances seem to be most spe- 
cially appropriate, and to each part a peculiar and 
special power has been given of selecting from the 
common source of supply those materials which 
suit it best to work withal. 

But what we eat and drink is not the only 
supply; the atmosphere likewise furnishes a large 
amount of the elements necessary to build up and 
sustain the body. This we obtain by the act of 
breathing. A man of average size, say weighing 
154 lbs., with every inspiration draws into the 
lungs about one pint of air; and taking the aver- 
age of inspirations at 18 to a minute, he will thus 
inhale 3,000 gallons of atmosphere every twenty- 



THE Rr:SURRKCTlON OF TIITC DEAD. I5I 

four hours. The air thus taken in after a brief 
interval is thrown out again directly from the 
lungs and indirectly from the pores of the skin, 
but from both these in an altered condition, now 
containing a much larger amount of both watery 
vapor and carbonic acid than when it entered. 
The skin alone exhales in insensible perspiration 
from one and a half to two pounds and the lungs 
something over one pound of w^ater every twenty- 
four hours; and during the same period from one 
to three pounds, according to circumstances, of 
carbonic acid are given off from both the lungs 
and the pores. These two processes, inhalation 
and exhalation, go on without intermission both 
when we are awake and wdien we are asleep. 

From the air inhaled the lungs extract from 
one-seventh to one-fifth of its oxygen, a quantity 
equal in weight to about one-fourth that of the 
whole amount of food taken, every twenty-four 
hours. This oxygen combines directly with the 
constituents of the blood in the lungs, and is then 
carried with the ceaseless current of the arteries 
to every portion and particle of the body to help 
build up the solid substance of the muscles, car- 
tilages, and skin. It forms a part of the material 
of vv^hich they are necessarily composed, and there- 
fore is real food, and to a certain extent we live 
upon it. Only a part of the oxygen extracted by 



152 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINGS. 

tlie lungs, however, is thus used to build up the 
body; the other and greater part of it is employed 
for an opposite purpose, which we shall now de- 
scribe. 

HOW THE BODY IS DISSOLVED AND CHANGED. 

Particles of the substances composing the vari- 
ous parts of the body continually wear out, so to 
speak, and become effete; these the oxygen, by 
combining with them, renders soluble, so that 
they are easily removed by the proper channels 
to give place to new and efficient particles. If 
we could look into the substance of the body, we 
should see that, throughout, its constituent parts 
are in a state of perpetual motion and change. 
No part, not even the most solid, is exempt from 
this. Portions of the substance of the bones, of 
the muscles, of the heart, of the brain, become 
changed and unfit for the places they occupy and 
are dissolved and carried away as waste matter 
with the blood that flows through the veins, from 
which it is eliminated by the kidneys and other 
organs; in the meanwhile the places of these ef- 
fete particles are continually supplied by new 
matter extracted from the rich arterial blood. 

The particles of our corporeal frame may be 
likened to '^the population of a great city, who 
are ever in motion and in change, coming and 



THE RESURRKCTION OF THE DEAD. I53 

going continually, weeded out and removed hour 
after hour by deaths and departures, yet as un- 
ceasingly kept up in numbers by new incomers; 
changing from day to day so insensibly as to 
escape observation, yet so evidently that after the 
lapse of a few years scarcely a known face can be 
discerned amonof cono^reo^ated thousands. Thus 
it is with the constituent parts of the body. So 
rapid is the wear and tear of this animal machine 
in consequence of its incessant movements that 
the repairs which are constantly called for are 
said to renovate the whole framework in a very 
brief period. Every wheel in that short space is 
removed and renewed. New materials are brought 
in for the purpose, while the old are thrown away 
and rejected. Scarcely has the gluten of the 
plant been comfortably fitted into its place in the 
muscle, the skin, or the hair, when it begins forth- 
with to be dissolved out again — to be decomposed 
and removed from the body. Restlessness beyond 
our control is thus inherent in the very matter of 
which our bodies are formed. ' ' 

A distinguished physiologist gives the follow- 
ing analysis of the composition, losses, and gains 
of the human frame: The body of a man weighing 
154 pounds is composed of 88 pounds of water 
and 66 pounds of solid matters. Such a body in 
twenty -four hours throws off or loses of water, 



154 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPKI. TKACPIINGS. 

40,000 grains, or 6 pounds, and of other matters, 
14,500 grains, or z pounds. These losses take 
place through the lungs, kidneys, skin, and bow- 
els, and amount all to 8 pounds. 

A man of this weight, therefore, in order to 
maintain his present condition or weight must 
daily receive into his system of solid food 8,000 
grains, of oxygen 10,000 grains, and of water 
36,500 grains, which together amount to 8 pounds. 

Thus there is a complete change of material 
to the amount of 8 pounds taking place in the 
body of such a man every twenty-four hours. 
From facts such as these it has been inferred by 
Profs. Johnston, Huxley, and others that the en- 
tire body is changed and renewed in a period of 
less than thirty days. This period, at first an- 
nouncement, may appear altogether too brief; but 
if we duly weigh the foregoing facts, it is not 
perhaps incredible. But if, to make sure that we 
are within the limits of truth, we allow a whole 
year to complete the change, the rapidity with 
which this earthly house is dissolved and rebuilt 
will be sufficiently wonderful and serve all the 
ends for which we mention the fact. 

WHAT BKCOMKS O^ THE MATKRIAI, BODY. 

Here let us devote a moment to inquire what 
becomes of the materials thus thrown ofT from the 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 155 

body, materials which once formed parts of its 
living: tissues and fluids and which we reo:arded 
and felt to be parts of ourselves. 

The watcr^ of which some two pounds are 
thrown off from the lungs and the pores every 
twenty-four hours, floats through the atmosphere 
in the form of vapor and is presently condensed 
into dew or rain to nourish grass and plants, 
which erelong serve to feed animals and men 
once more. Thus this fluid, never at rest, goes 
through the same circle of changes again and 
again. What circulates in my system to-day a 
few days hence may flow through the veins of 
another. 

The oxygm^ thrown off" in various combinations 
with the waste materials, soon reo^ains its freedom 
and its purity in the atmosphere, where, mingled 
w^ith the common ocean, it remains ready to be 
inhaled by other lungs, to pass through a similar 
round again. It is the common servant of all 
that breathe or need its services. 

The carbonic acid^ of w^iich from one to three 
pounds are daily thrown off*, also floats in the at- 
mosphere, to be absorbed by the green leaves and 
grasses; and these, as before, sooner or later, are 
largely taken into the stomachs of animals to be- 
come parts of their living tissues. Thus the same 
carbon may circulate over and over again, now 



156 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TKACHINCxS. 

floating in the invisible air, now forming the sub- 
stance of the growing plant, now of the browsing 
animal, and now of living man, and then return 
to the atmosphere to pass through similar and 
ceaseless rounds. What is mine of it this week 
may be yours the next. 

The ttrea and itric acid^ into which the worn 
and wasted muscles have been converted, passing 
from the kidneys, return to the soil, from which 
the nitrogen they contain originally came. There 
they are gradually converted into ammonia, nitric 
acid, and other substances, such as plant roots 
originally took up, and which now, re-formed, are 
ready again to enter into new roots and thus to 
re-commence the same round of change. 

The mineral matters embraced in the composi- 
tion of the body — salts, lime, magnesia, etc., in 
all about. 10 pounds — as they were at first derived 
from the earth, so little by little they daily find 
their way back to the earth again. From thence 
they ascend into the substance of plants and grass, 
thence into the substance of the bodies of animals 
and men; and from these they descend, as before, 
into mother earth to begin, like all the foregoing 
substances, a new and similar career. 

Finally, when the whole body dies at once, its 
gases soon disengage themselves and mingle with 
the ocean of the atmosphere; its fluids become 



THK RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 157 

absorbed by tlie soil and the dust of its more solid 
parts is carried by percolating rains into the 
streams and by the streams into the sea — all 
sooner or later to enter into new chemical com- 
binations in the general mass of the elements or 
in the structure of vegetation or in the bodies of 
living animals. A duty is laid upon every par- 
ticle of matter composing our present frame to 
prepare and hasten to new service as soon as its 
commission with us is performed. How vain, 
then, are the efforts of affection to cherish and 
preserve the fading forms of the dead ! Do what 
we may, they can never long be prevented from 
returninof to the ceaseless whirl of their natural 
elements. Their destiny is inevitable. 

SCRIPTURE STATEMENTS VERIFIED. 

From all that has now been stated it is obvious 
that the material elements which compose the 
human body are in perpetual circulation and per- 
petual change. Nothing that belongs to it is 
permanent, nothing is fixed or abiding. All its 
parts are in constant flux. It is not the same 
during any tvv'O successive weeks or even on any 
two successive days. It is not in all respects the 
same on any morning when we awake as it was 
on the preceding evening when we went to sleep. 
It will be seen hence that the followino: state- 



158 NATURAI. I.AWS AND GOSPKIv Te:ACHINGS. 

inents of Scripture are in perfect harmony witli 
the deductions of science: 

1. That our bodies, though fearfully and won- 
derfully made, are composed of the physical ele- 
ments which exist around us: ''The first man is 
of the earth, earthy. ' ' 

2. That portions of the living body are con- 
tinually dying out and being replaced by others, 
so that the apostle's words express a literal fact: 
''The outward man is perishing — I die daily." 

3. That we have already put on and put off a 
greater number of bodies than we are years of 
age, bodies fitted for infancy, for youth, and for 
manhood: "God giveth to each a body as it hath 
pleased him. ' ' 

4. That neither form nor size nor sameness of 
material is essential to personal identity; for, in 
passing through our successive changes of body, 
we have been conscious all along that we are the 
selfsame individuals. Hence it is apparent that 
we may be, and we shall be so still, when He 
shall have changed this our vile body and fash- 
ioned it "like unto his own glorious body." 

5. That we have no standing or exclusive 
claim or title to any of the particles of matter 
which have served us as parts of our bodies, for 
they have sustained the same relation and ren- 
dered the same service to others before, and may 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 159 

to others still hereafter. They are neither mine 
nor thine; nor need either of us regret this, for 
they are not essential to *^the body that shall be.^' 
The Scriptures nowhere say that the resurrection 
body shall be constituted of the identical particles 
that composed the mortal body; on the contrary, 
it is explicitly stated, ''Thou sowest not that 
body that shall be;" ''flesh and blood cannot in- 
herit the kingdom of God. ' ' 

6. That the power that combines the elements 
of earth and air into an organic plant, that con- 
verts the substance of plant into the flesh of living 
animals, and that transforms the flesh of animals 
into the delicate tissues and sensitive nerves of 
the human body, may carry on the ascending prog- 
ress still higher and advance that mortal body to 
an immortal, so that, "as we have borne the im- 
age of the earthly, we shall also bear the image 
of the heavenly. ' ' 

THE BUILDER OE THIS EARTHLY TABERNACLE. 

In organic nature the dominant force is that 
mysterious principle we call life. This is the 
formative and ordering power in both the vegeta- 
ble and animal kingdoms. It is plant-life that 
builds the plant, animal life that builds up the an- 
imal frame, and it is this vital power within that 
builds up and fashions our body. This is the pow- 



l6o NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

er that quickens into living substance and dispo- 
ses into organic form the matter we receive as food. 
Our food as taken into the stomach is dead matter, 
and all its particles are dead even after they have 
passed into the intestines; but when they have 
reached a certain point in the circulation of the 
system this vital power in some mysterious way 
seizes upon tliese particles and infuses into them 
its own living properties. And it is this vital 
power, like an ingenious architect, that superin- 
tends and directs the thousand builders who are 
constantly constructing and reconstructing every 
member and organ of our frame, selecting and 
combining the proper materials for each particu- 
lar part; here building up a bone, there forming 
a tendon; here weaving the fibre of a muscle, 
there the filament of a nerve ; here hinging a 
valve, there glazing an eye — fashioning and fin- 
ishing each with the most scrupulous nicety, and 
combining all into one related and harmonious 
system with a skill surpassing all admiration. 

Life, then (as God's agent), is the builder of 
the present body. ' ^ Organic form and structure, ' ' 
says Profr J. J. Murphy, ''are the result of this 
formative principle; or, in briefer words, life is 
the cause of organisation ; organization is not the 
cause of life. Organization is not essential to life. 
There may be and there is life where there is no 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. l6l 

organization/' So the Duke of Argyll, in argu- 
ing on this subject, says, ''Let us never forget 
that life, as we know it here below, is the antece- 
dent or cause of organization and not its product; 
that the peculiar combinations of matter which 
are the homes and abodes of life are prepared and 
shaped under the control and guidance of that 
mysterious power w^hich we know as vitality.'' 
It is this vital power, this living principle, that 
all along has given form and features and organi- 
zation to the ceaseless current of ever-chaneine 
materials which we have called our body. In 
this vital principle w^e have the abiding and es- 
sential force w^hich forms and actuates the body, 
the fashioning power that lies underneath and 
permeates the outward phenomenon of corporeal 
form, and which is the sole element of its iden- 
tity ; all else is in perpetual change. 

In view of all this it is not inconsistent w^ith 
nature or Scripture to suppose that, after the sub- 
stances of our present body shall have been dis- 
solved and scattered by death, this vital and or- 
ganic principle, life^ abiding still in connection 
with the spirit in the presence of Christ — ''hid 
with Christ in God" — may return with him in 
union w^th the spirit at the final day, quickened 
into higher and magnetic energies, capable of 
drawing to itself from the same terrestrial ele- 

Natural Laws. I J 



l63 NATURAL I^AWS AND GOSPEI^ TEACHINGS. 

ments as before materials in conditions and com- 
binations differing from anything we are now 
acquainted with, and out of them fashion for itself 
a new and superior habitation, ^'a spiritual body," 
suited to its new and eternal condition of exist- 
ence. Accordingly the apostle speaks of our being 
''clothed upon" with ''a house not made with 
hands," which is to remain and abide ''eternal 
in the heavens." 

Of this putting on of the new and spiritual 
body we seem to have some intimations even in 
nature. We see life in various animals building 
for itself a succession of different bodies to suit 
the diflFerent and advancing conditions of their 
existence. The life that has been inclosed in the 
egg of a butterfly presently forms for itself a more 
spacious abode in the shape of a caterpillar; and 
erelong it constructs still another, far more beau- 
tiful, in the form of a winged butterfly, gleam- 
ing with azure and gold. In the sitaris we see 
life building for itself successively no less than 
four very differently constructed abodes, suited 
respectively to the four different conditions of its 
existence. Again, some creatures there are which 
are appointed to live in two different worlds, so 
to speak; and life in these, as it passes from its 
lower to its higher world, assumes to itself a cor- 
respondingly higher and more perfect body. The 



THK RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 163 

libdlicla passes the first period of its existence be- 
neath the water in the condition of an ignoble 
larva, soiled with mnd and filth; but the time 
comes when it is to be an inhabitant of the upper 
world, and we see it leave behind its first body 
and construct another, furnished with brilliant and 
irridescent wings of gauze, which bear it lightly 
and happily through the air. The scarabcBits also 
spends its earlier period as a hideous subterranean 
worm; but, destined for a higher state, at the ap- 
pointed time it undergoes a singular transforma- 
tion, and we see it, with its emerald elytra, dis- 
porting among the happiest of creatures in the 
pure air and sunshine. The ancient Egyptians, 
seeing in all this a symbol of the transmigration 
of souls, accounted this little creature as *' sa- 
cred. ' ' 

These facts are presented, not as proofs of the 
resurrection of man, but as m^arvels of nature that 
should silence the cavils of incredulity; nor yet 
are they offered as exact parallels to the resurrec- 
tion, but as striking analogies, which render that 
event credible and worthy of acceptance. If we 
see life in its lowest forms produce such wonders, 
what may not life in its highest type effect? If 
a humble worm, living in darkness and buried in 
mud, is transformed as before our eyes into a beau- 
teous creature, with feathers of silver and wings 



164 NATURAI. I.AWS AND GOSPE:i, TEACHINGS. 

of gold, gliding tlirougli the air, revelling among 
flowers, and exulting in the glowing sunbeams, 
why should it be deemed incredible that intellec- 
tual and moral man should know as great and 
even greater change, and be translated into just 
such form and constitution as the Holy Scriptures 
promise and describe ? 

THE PROPERTIES OF THE BODY THAT SHAI.I. BE. 

In the inspired Word we find not simply the 
general announcement that there shall be a resur- 
rection of the dead, but also a particular descrip- 
tion of the bodies in which they shall be invested. 
These, we are told, shall be widely different from 
those we now occupy. '^ It is sown in corruption; 
it is raised in incorruption. " That is, the body 
is laid in the grave a framework with an inevita- 
ble tendency to disorganization and putrefaction; 
but it shall be raised exempt from all liability to 
disease or decay and remain for ever imperisha- 
ble. '^It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in 
glory.'' As soon as the vital spark has fled a 
process of decomposition sets in, rendering the 
body offensive and loathsome and making it 
speedily necessary to hide it in the grave; but it 
shall be raised in purity, beauty, and splendor, an 
object worthy of admiration and honor. ^'It is 
sown in weakness; it is raised in powder." The 



THE RESURRECTION OF TIIE DEAD. 165 

present body is a feeble tabernacle, easily injured 
and ever subject to weariness, languor, and ex- 
haustion; but it shall be raised as the seat of 
unwastinig and untiring energies, capable of bear- 
ing company to the immortal spirit, without fa- 
tigue in all its services to God and in its ceaseless 
excursions after knowledge over the broad areas 
of creation. *'It is sown a natural body; it is 
raised a spiritual body." The present is an ani- 
mal body, subject to all the laws of the animal 
economy, the seat of animal appetites, passions, 
and propensities; but the resurrection body will 
be free from all these, a body constituted to be 
in perfect accord with all the impulses and aspira- 
tions of the sanctified soul dwelling within it, fit- 
ted to live as spirits live, to move as spirits move, 
and to act as spirits act. '^In the resurrection 
they shall be as the angels." 

Such is to be the resurrection body. But here 
skepticism may be ready to ask. How can such a 
thing be ? How is it possible to constitute such a 
body out of gross earthly materials ? Is not such 
an idea in contradiction of all that we have ever 
observed or experienced? Is not this doctrine 
altogether incredible? To human ignorance it 
may seem so and yet be true. We may not in- 
deed be able to understand or even conceive how 
this shall be done, but this argues nothing against 



l66 NATURAI, 1.AW3 AND GOSPKl. TEACHINGS. 

the doctrine. Our knowledge of the properties 
and capabilities of matter as well as of the nature 
and relations of the physical forces is as yet very 
incomplete and very imperfect ; but we know 
enough of both to meet and silence such cavils. 

The play and transmutation of the/^;r^^ which 
actuate and control all nature are very wonderful 
and past all human explanation; what now ap- 
pears as motion may presently be converted into 
heat, heat to magnetism, magnetism to electricity, 
and electricity to light; or the reverse of all this 
may take place, or the transmutations may follow 
in any other order. The changes, combinations, 
and transformations of which matter likewise is 
capable are past all number and all knowledge. 
What stands before us to-day as a solid block of 
ice, to-morrow may be seen as a flowing stream or 
a flying cloud, or it may exist as invisible steam or 
in two different and distinct gases. What we han- 
dle as solid gold or silver or copper or iron may 
be transformed not only into molten fluid, but 
into floating vapors or dancing molecules. The 
elementary substance we call carbon may assume 
the form of dull graphite or a lump of charcoal, 
and the charcoal again that of the brilliant dia- 
mond. Science tells us that the pending dewdrop 
or the tear trembling on the lid may be charged 
with a sufficient quantity of electricity to produce 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 1G7 

a tliunderstorin that shall shake a kingdom ; that 
water may be frozen into a solid lump of ice in a 
red-hot crucible; that a whisper can be rendered 
audible at the distance of a hundred leagues and 
the footfall of a fly as distinct as the tramp of a 
horse. Science makes known to us the existence 
of matter in conditions in which none of our senses 
can take cognisance of it; oxygen, though it com- 
poses one-half the substance of the whole globe and 
is one of the most energetic elements in nature, 
yet is colorless to the eye, tasteless to the tongue, 
odorless to the nose, and impalpable to the hand. 
Science asserts the existence of a material medi- 
um, the luminiferous ether, and ascribes to it pow- 
ers and properties which are as utterly incompre- 
hensible to us as all that the Scriptures say con- 
cerning the '^spiritual body" of the resurrection. 
It tells us that this ether is of so attenuated and 
elastic a nature that the granite rock or the hard- 
ened steel cannot exclude its presence or impede 
its motions; that its power of resistance to pressure 
is upwards of seventeen billions of pounds, and 
yet we move through it constantly without feel- 
ing it; that though it touches us perpetually on 
every side, yet no touch of ours can detect it; that 
its vibrations are so rapid that trillions of them 
enter the eye in the briefest glance we can take at 
any object; that it can convey a message to a dis- 



l68 NATURAT, I^AWS AND GOSPElv TEACHINGS. 

tance equal to the circumference of the globe in 
the seventh part of a second of time. In short, 
science tells us that there is about us light to 
which we are blind, sounds to which we are deaf, 
heat and magnetism and electricity to which we 
are insensible, that a thousand forms of force 
strike us hourly which our dull nerves perceive 
not, that a thousand objects and motions encom- 
pass us which the narrow bounds of our organs 
fail to take in. 

With such facts as these laid before us, where 
are the objections to a ^'spiritual body" based 
upon the nature and properties of matter ? Who 
is warranted to assert that earthly elements cannot 
furnish materials to constitute just such bodies as 
are promised to the saints at the resurrection day ? 
Who that knows the mystic transformations of 
both matter and force which perpetually surprise 
the chemist and the physicist will presume to say 
what can or what cannot be wrought out by Infi- 
nite Wisdom in the vast and complicated labora- 
tory of nature? Do not these teachings of science 
itself go to show that, for all we know, there may 
be a world of spiritual existences, all clothed in 
material bodies, around us at this very moment — 
inhabiting this same globe, enjoying these same 
scenes of nature — of whom we have no percep- 
tion; that they may be in happy activity and vi- 



THK RKSURRKCTION OF THE DKAD. 169 

bra ting tlieir angelic songs in ineflfable harmony 
on every side, all unseen and unheard by us? 
Why, then, should it be deemed by any a thing 
incredible that God should clothe his redeemed 
with bodies incorruptible, immortal, and glorious, 
according to the sure word of his promise ? Who 
shall limit the Holy One, to whom all things are 
possible ? 

TO EVERY SEED HIS OWN BODY. 

St. Paul, in describing the resurrection body, 
employs this comparison and illustration: ^'That 
which thou sowest is not quickened except it die; 
and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that 
body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance 
of wheat or of some other grain; but God giveth 
it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed 
his own body. ... So also is the resurrection of the 
dead." In this passage we have three important 
facts stated. 

I. That which iJiou sowest is not qidckejted ex- 
cept it die. The grain of seed sown must decay in 
the ground before it can produce other and new 
grains. Its death is a necessary step in the order 
of nature. So with man. His death, in the or- 
der of grace, is a necessary break in the chain of 
his corporeal existence that his renovation may be 
perfect and complete. This break makes an ahr 



lyO NATURAI, I^AWS AND GOSPElv TKACHINGS. 

solute separation between the corrupt body of sin 
that was and the new and spiritual body that 
shall be; ^'for '^ corruption cannot inherit incor- 
ruption/' The old tabernacle, infected with sin, 
must be dissolved, and a new mansion, '' undefiled 
and incorruptible," reared in its stead. And in 
this way man shall be redeemed in body as well 
as in soul from the last taint of sin. 

2, ThotL sowest not that body that shall be. The 
seed produced is not composed exclusively of the 
identical materials or particles that composed the 
seed sown, for the former may be thirty or sixty 
or a hundred fold greater in amount than the lat- 
ter. New matter has been seized upon and em- 
ployed. The seed produced, however, is the same 
in kind and has been constituted out of the same 
elements. So shall it be with man in the resur- 
rection. A change will take place. The expres- 
sion '^resurrection of the body'' or ''resurrection 
of the flesh" nowhere occurs in the Scriptures. 
But the promise is that "this vile body shall be 
changed," and man shall be "clothed upon" 
w^ith a "house not made with hands," a house 
made out of the same earthly materials as before, 
but constituted so differently that it shall be in- 
corruptible, immortal, and glorious. 

3. He giveth to every seed his own body ; not the 
identical body of the seed from which it sprang, 



THK RESURRECTION OF THK DEAD. 171 

but one that shall be to it, in all respects, what 
that was to the original seed; and in this sense, 
and in no other, it is called its ''own body." 
And as with the seed, so shall it be with man. In 
the same sense he shall have his ''own body." 
Identity of matter is not implied in the expres- 
sion, as applied to the one or the other. A man's 
body is called his from its union with his living- 
soul and the mutual influence of the one on the 
other. The constituent particles of the body, as 
w^e have seen, are in perpetual change; but from 
its belonging all along to the same sotU and con- 
veying feelings and perceptions to the smne mind 
and obeying the directions of the same will^ we 
regard and call it the same body. So at the resur- 
rection, if we shall be clothed with bodies which 
we, in this way, perceive to belong to us and to 
be ours, it will signify nothing of what particular 
particles of matter they will be composed, wheth- 
er of those which belonged to it at some former 
period or of others drawn from the same common 
source. 

The difficulties whicb to some appear to beset 
the doctrine of the resurrection arise, for the most 
part, from strained interpretation of Scripture or 
from pressing its general statements to express de- 
tails and partieulars they were never meant to 
cover. The sum and the substance of the prom- 



172 NATURAI, I,AWS AND GOSPKI. TEACHINGS. 

ise is that at the last day Christ will bring with 
him the spirits of the faithful and clothe them 
with bodies like unto his own glorious body, fitted 
for the services and enjoyments of a righteous and 
spiritual state of existence. And then shall be 
brought to pass the word that is written, '^O 
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is 
thy victory ? The sting of death is sin, and the 
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, 
who giveth us the victory through our lyord Jesus 
Christ.'' 



THU FINAI, CONI^I^AGRATION. 1 73 



PART V. 
THE FINAI, CONFI.AGRATION. 

The globe upon which we dwell in the course 
of its prolonged and eventful history has passed 
through many and great and surprising transfor- 
mations. The investigations of science have 
brought to light abundance of evidence that its 
whole surface has been destroyed and renewed 
again and again, and that all its living tenants 
have again and again been swept away and re- 
placed by others. And the Holy Scriptures inform 
us that it is destined to be destroyed yet once 
more, and aftew^ards to be renovated and beauti- 
fied so as to be a fit abode for a population of right- 
eous and happy beings. 

The disclosures made to us concerning this 
final destruction and the bright and blessed econ- 
omy that is to succeed are, it is true, few and gen- 
eral, yet such as must be contemplated with pro- 
found and peculiar interest by every believer in 
the sacred volume. No details are given, no 
graphic or picturesque description is presented; 
and the reserve thus maintained in the informa- 
tion granted bids us maintain the same in our in- 



174 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

quiries. But wliile we are not to presume to be 
wise above what is written, yet it is our privilege 
and our duty to attempt to be wise up to the meas- 
ure of what has been communicated in the Word 
and what has been revealed in the works of our 
Father in heaven; and it is with this view and in 
this spirit that we now proceed to consider this 
interesting subject. 

IVhcfi this great and final change shall be 
brought about we are not told. We have no data 
in nature from which we can calculate, nor any 
statement or hint in Scripture from which we can 
conjecture, when the end of the present economy 
shall be. The times and the seasons the Father 
hath reserved in his own power. All we are per- 
mitted to know is that that day will come sudden- 
ly and unexpectedly, even as a thief in the night. 
We are left in equal ignorance as to the pro- 
cess or mode in which this amazing transforma- 
tion will be effected. We have already seen that 
the divine interposition was concerned in each of 
the great upward steps by which our world was 
advanced from its dead and chaotic state to its 
present condition of order, life, and grandeur; and 
hence it is reasonable to infer that the hand of God 
will also be directly concerned in introducing this 
stupendous and final change. But as to the mode 
or course which Infinite Wisdom will adopt to 



TUB FINAI. CONF^LAGRATION. 1 75 

effect it we have no information. It is for us 
therefore to confine ourselves simply and reverent- 
ly to what has been revealed. 

THE EI^EMENT THAT SHAI^I^ DESTROY THE 

WORI.D. 

''The heavens and the earth which are now, 
by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto 
fire against the day of judgm.ent and perdition of 
ungodly men. . . . The day of the lyOrd will come 
as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens 
shall pass away with a great noise and the ele- 
ments shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also 
and the works that are therein shall be burned 
up." 

That the world should finally be destroyed by 
fire was an opinion commonly entertained by the 
ancient philosophers, especially of the Greeks. 
Heraclitus is said to have '' discoursed much con- 
cerning the conflagration of the world." Sopho- 
cles taught that ''a raging fire shall devour all 
things earthly and above." Lucian put forth the 
same idea. ''Coming events in futurity," said 
he, "are extremely lamentable; I mean the gen- 
eral conflagration which will consume the uni- 
verse." So also Cicero: "It will happen some 
day or other that all this world will be burned up 
with fire." And Ovid has these expressive lines: 



176 NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPEl. TKACHINGS, 

*^ Remembering in the fates a time when fire 
Shall to the battlements of heaven aspire, 
And all this blazing world above shall burn 
And all the inferior globe to cinders turn." 



This was the common idea entertained among the 
stoics and epicureans. It is remarkable that none 
of them fancied that it would be by water. What 
the foundation of their opinion was it is impossi- 
ble now to determine; but whatevei its origin, we 
cannot but regard it as a remarkable coincidence 
with the sacred announcement before us. 

But to return to the apostle's words: ''The 
heavens and the earth which are now are reserved 
unto fire.'' By the " earth," of course, is meant 
the material globe upon which we stand: this is 
to be subjected to the action of fire, of intense and 
dissolving heat. The "heavens" also are to be 
involved in the same catastrophe; not, however, 
the sidereal or the planetary heavens, for it cannot 
reasonably be supposed that those distant and 
magnificent spheres are doomed to share in the 
fate of our isolated and revolted world, of which 
alone the apostle here speaks, but the aerial heav- 
ens, or the atmospheric ocean which envelops our 
globe. The gases composing this shall be igni- 
ted, and so pass away with a great noise or explo- 
sion. '' The earth and the works that are therein 
shall be burned up." The whole vegetable and 



TIIK FINAL CONFLAGRATION. 1 77 

animal creation, together with all the most endu- 
ring works of man — his towers, temples, palaces, 
and monuments — shall be consumed and swept 
away. '^The elements shall melt with fervent 
heat;" that is, the constituents or component 
parts of material things shall undergo this change. 
'^All these things shall be dissolved;" not anni- 
hilated, but '^ dissolved. " The substances com- 
posing the atmosphere and the earth shall remain, 
but shall undergo the natural change of aspect 
and composition produced by intense heat; and 
out of these materials, we are left to infer, wdll be 
formed a renovated world. 

Skeptics and scoffers in time past often asked, 
Whence is to come the fire that is adequate to 
effect such a dissolution of all nature, seeing that 
three- fourths of the earth's surface is covered with 
the ocean waters, and that to the depth of several 
miles? Our knowledge of the elements and for- 
ces of nature at the present day enables us to re- 
turn a final answer to this question and to show 
that various and abundant means exist ready at 
hand to bring about the destruction of our world 
by fire at any moment, just in the manner foretold 
in the Scriptures. A glance at a few w^ell-ascer- 
tained facts will suffice to prove this. 

Heat or fire lies latent in all bodies, all earthly 
substances, ready to be called forth at any instant 

Natural Laws. I 2 



178 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPKL TE:ACHINGS. 

by mechanic and dynamic means; and as it is one 
of the most energetic of the physical forces, so also 
is it one of the most universally disseminated. 

The earth carries abundant means for its de- 
struction in its own bosom. It is supposed that 
one vast and fathomless ocean of molten and glow- 
ing inatter lies hidden beneath the very ground 
upon which v/e walk. The whole solid crust of 
the earth, which in thickness does not exceed the 
1 60th part of its diameter, floats upon that ocean 
as floats the ice on the bosom of the lake. Let but 
the balance of pressure and upheaval by which 
this crust is sustained be suddenly destroyed, and 
a deluge of fire would overflow its surface and 
utterly consume everything that grows or moves 
or lives upon it. 

The electric element which pervades the whole 
atmosphere and all the solid substances of the 
globe presents another agency adequate at any 
moment to set on fire and consume all that exists 
on the face of the earth. Both the prevalence 
and the power of this element are appalling to 
contemplate. Its energy is all but irresistible; 
in an instant It rifts the oak into splinters, sets 
the floating ship in a blaze, scatters the massive 
tower into fragments, scathes and vitrifies the 
rock, and melts to fluid the hardest metals. And 
the ease and rapidity with which this resistless 



THE FINAI^ CONFLAGRATION. 1 79 

agent may be accumulated and excited render it 
still more terrible. " Even in fair weather," says 
Prof. Cooke, ^4ts presence may be detected in tlie 
atmosphere. During a storm, when clouds filled 
with vesicular drops of water are hurried over the 
surface, grinding against the hills and the trees or 
against each other, the atmosphere becomes a vast 
hydro -electric machine, whose sparks are the 
lightning and the noise of its discharges the thun- 
der. The wonder is, not that an occasional thun- 
derbolt should kindle a conflagration or even cause 
a death, but that every storm does not lay waste 
the earth along its fiery track." Moreover, when 
we appreciate the vastness of the scale on which 
the electrical machine of nature is constructed, the 
thunderstorm ceases to surprise us and only calls 
our attention to those beneficent provisions by 
which we and our race are saved by a constant 
miracle from the fate of the Cities of the Plain. 
Plere, then, is another agency, which, should God 
but remove his restraining hand, will be found 
adequate to reduce to ashes all that we now be- 
hold or admire on the face of the earth. 

There is yet another element of universal 
prevalence in nature which is capable of bringing 
about the final conflagration in all its predicted 
terror and destruction, and that is oxygen. To 
borrow ao^ain the words of the able chemist just 



I So NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINGS. 

quoted, ^'The fire element in nature is oxygen; 
this gas is the producer of flame and combustion, 
and is the mightiest and most destructive of all 
the elements. Mingled with and restrained by 
other elements in its natural and ordinary condi- 
tion, oxygen is bland and harmless, without odor 
or taste, and seems devoid of any active properties. 
But beneath this apparent mildness there is con- 
cealed an energy so violent that, when once thor- 
oughly aroused, nothing can withstand it. A 
single spark of fire will change the whole char- 
acter of this element, and what was before inert 
and passive becomes in an instant violent and 
irrepressible. The gentle bree^^e which was wa- 
ving the corn and fanning the browsing herds 
becomes the next moment a consuming fire before 
v/hich the works of man melt away into air. 
Now you may be surprised at the statement, but 
it is nevertheless true, that between one-half and 
two-thirds of the crust of this globe and of the 
bodies of its inhabitants consists of oxygen. One- 
fifth of the volume of the whole atmosphere is 
composed of oxygen. No less than eight-ninths 
of all water is formed of the same gas. It makes 
np three-fourths of our own bodies and no less 
than four-fifths of every plant and at least one- 
half of the solid rocks. IvCt, then, this element 
but be released, let the mysterious affinities that 



TIIK FINAI. CONFLAGRATION. l8l 

now hold it in restraint but cease, and the hard- 
ened rocks or even the very waters of the ocean 
would supply the fire and fervent heat that v/ould 
consume the earth and the works that are therein. ' ' 

The apostle states that at the final conflagra- 
tion *' the heavens shall pass away with a great 
noise." This will attend the event as a natural 
result. When chemical experiments are made on 
a small scale with the natural gases they are often 
attended with loud and destructive explosions. If, 
then, on the final day, at the bidding of Omnipo- 
tence, the oxygen and nitrogen which compose the 
atmosphere be released from each other's embrace, 
and the oxygen, according to its greater gravity, 
sink into a separate layer along the surface of the 
earth, it is not difiicult to see how this part of the 
prediction will be literally fulfilled. The moment 
this separation takes place a spark will suffice to 
set that oxygen in a blaze and envelop the whole 
terraqueous globe in one immense flame, which 
wall necessarily be attended with a thousand con- 
cussions and explosions, loud and terrific, as if the 
earth burst asunder. 

The predicted conflagration of the earth, then, 
is not a thing impossible or improbable, as scofiers 
were wont to assert. Science has now demon- 
strated that the various elements of nature are 
amply sufficient for this end; that their subtle and 



lS2 NATURAL LAWS AND GOSPEL TEACHINGS. 

delicate combinations are invested with sncli tre- 
mendous power that they require but the slightest 
modification to insure a literal fulfihnent of the 
apostle's prophecy. In the light of the present 
day we see these mighty elements, as it were, 
stand waiting for God's command as so many 
ministers of his pleasure, ready to carry out all he 
has purposed or threatened against this world in 
which we dwell. 

Let not the reader, however, interpret the 
foregoing statements to say that thus and thus it 
will and must be. We presume not to say in 
Avhat way God will accomplish his work or which 
of the instrumentalities now named Infinite Wis- 
dom may see fit to employ. It may be one or it 
may be another; or perhaps all of them will act a 
part in the dread and terrific scene, and, if all^ 
then the poet's startling apostrophe will be more 
than realised: 

''At the destined hour, 
By the lond trumpet summoned to the charge, 
See all the formidable sons of lire, 
Eruptions, earthquakes, gases, lightnings, play 
Their various engines; all at once disgorge 
Their blazing magazines and take by storm 
This poor terrestrial citadel of man. 
Amazing period ! when each mountain height 
Outburns Vesuvius ; rocks eternal pour 
Their melted mass, as rivers once they poured ; 
Seas boil, and final ruin fiercely drives 
Her ploughshare o'er creation." — young. 



THE FINAL CONI^I.AGRATION. 1S3 

CONFLAGRATION OF OTHER WORLDS. 

It will be of interest here to state, as having a 
bearing on this subject, that the fiery catastrophe 
which thus awaits this planetary globe has al- 
ready, it is supposed, been the doom of some of 
the celestial orbs. Astronomers have once and 
again observed stars which seemed to be in an 
actual state of conflagration. 

In the year 1572, on the nth of November, 
Tyclio Brahe observed in the constellation Cas- 
siopeia^ at a place where before he had only seen 
very small stars, a new star of uncommon magni- 
tude. It was so bright that it surpassed even 
Jupiter and Venus in splendor and was visible 
even in the daytime. At the end of a year, how- 
ever, it gradually diminished, and at length, in 
March, 1574, sixteen months after its discovery, 
entirely disappeared, since which no trace of it 
has ever been seen. When it first appeared its 
light was of a daz2;ling white color; two months 
after it became yellowish ; in a few months more 
it assumed a reddish hue, like Mars; in January 
and February of 1574 it glimmered only with a 
gray or lead-colored light, and then totally van- 
ished. Ivaplace supposed that it was burned up. 

A similar phenomenon w^as observed on the 
27th of April, 1S4S. This appeared in the con- 



184 NATURAL I.AWS AND GOSPKI. TEACHINGS. 

stellation OpJihcchtcs ; its light was reddish in the 
telescope, and Dr. Preston observed that the red- 
dish color at times increased suddenly in in- 
tensity and again as suddenly disappeared. Other 
observers noticed these peculiar red flashes. Grad- 
ually it decreased in brilliancy, till in June, 1850, 
when it became extinct. 

Not longer ago than May, 1866, the splendors 
of another apparently new star in Corona Borealis 
arrested the attention of astronomers. Anxiously 
watched by competent observers in separate local- 
ities, its changes w^ere accurately noted and com- 
pared. It rose in magnificent brilliancy; it slowly 
waned ; it disappeared. The astronomer royal of 
England expressed his belief in the burning of 
that distant world. Inflammable gases combi- 
ning, it has been supposed, gave to it the appear- 
ance by ' which observers were dazzled and im- 
pressed. 

All the above stars, as far as the observers 
could judge, seemed to pass through all the stages 
of a general conflagration. Their sudden outburst 
on the view, their exceeding brightness at first, 
their subsequent red and fitful flashes, their grad- 
ual fading, and their f.nal extinction, presented 
all the appearances of burning worlds. And such 
they are believed to have been by eminent astron- 
omers, as these varied aspects, and all occurring 



THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION. 185 

within sucli brief periods, can be accounted for 
on no other supposition. And if this has been the 
doom of other worlds, why should we doubt the 
sure word of prophecy that a similar fate awaits 
our own ? 

PAST DESTRUCTIONS AND RENOVATIONS OF OUR 

PLANET. 

The prophetic view" given of the earth's future 
destiny is in entire accord with the vicissitudes of 
its past history, and the destruction and renova- 
tion foretold by the apostle are scarcely more as- 
tonishing than some of the transformations through 
which our world has already passed. And as it 
may be to some an aid to faith in the sure word 
of prophecy, we shall here just glance at a few of 
these stupendous changes. 

If some spiritual intelligence, the denizen of 
some orb in the distant regions of space, had set 
out to visit our globe in its primordial condition, 
according to the latest theories of astronomers 
he would have discovered it as a molten mass 
enveloped in a dense and dark atmosphere of 
steam. If, after the lapse of ages, he visited it 
again, he would have witnessed an astonishing 
change ; its fiery heat and steamy atmosphere 
have passed away, its form is now encased in a 
solid crust, its waters gathered into settled seas, 



l86 NATURAI, I,AWS AND GOSPKI. TEACHINGS. 

and the suu and moon and stars shining upon it 
through a comparatively clear sky. If, after other 
ages had rolled by, he came back again, he would 
have observed that it had undergone another and 
an enchanting transformation; before him would 
spread out the continents and islands, which he 
had left on his former visit as barren and bare 
rocks, now all clothed with a diversified and mag- 
nificent vegetation extending from pole to pole. 
If again, after the lapse of eons more, he returned, 
he would have marked another astonishing change 
and found that the tangled plains and mountain 
forests, whose silence at his previous visit had 
never been broken by the voice of beast or song 
of bird, were now swarming and echoing with 
living tenants of a thousand varied forms. If 
again, after another long absence, he came back, 
he would have looked down upon our globe 
wrapped for the most part from pole to equator in 
ice and snow accumulated to the depths of hun- 
dreds and even thousands of feet, with huge gla- 
ciers slowly moving down its mountain -sides, 
grinding the rocks and ploughing out the valleys, 
presenting altogether a scene of cold and cheer- 
less desolation, yet one preparing the way for a 
brighter era. And if, once more, other millenni- 
ums having passed away, he came back, he would 
have found that glacial rigor had given place to 



THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION. 187 

a mild temperature and to pleasant scenes, and 
that the world, which all along had been the ex- 
clusive inheritance of m.ere brutes, was now in- 
habited by myriads of intelligent human beings, 
dwelling in pleasant habitations amid fruitful 
fields or congregated in large and splendid cities, 
cultivating art, science, and literature. Now such 
a being, who had thus witnessed these amazing 
transformations in the condition of our globe, 
would have no difficulty in believinsr that it mio:ht 
undergo other and diflFerent changes still; that it 
might even be subjected to the action of intense 
heat as it had been to intense cold, in order to 
advance it to a yet higher state of beauty and 
perfection. Why, then, should zve have any more 
difficulty in believing the same? for all these 
changes, in effect, are even now before our ej^es, 
having been laid bare by the labors of the geolo- 
gist. If one order of things after another has 
thus once and again given place for higher and 
higher manifestations of the wisdom, power, and 
goodness of God, why should we doubt the still 
higher and grander and happier transformation 
promised in the time to come ? This our earthly 
abode has not yet reached a condition of perfec- 
tion; neither have the resources of the Almighty 
Creator been yet exhausted. He is abundantly 
able to do greater things than these. 



l8S NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINGS. 

THE NK^Y EARTH AND NEW HEAVENS. 

^ ^ Behold, I create new heavens and a new 
earth: and the former shall not be remembered 
nor come into mind. ' ' Isa. 65:17. 

''As the new heavens and the new earth which 
I will make shall remain before me, saith the 
Lord, so shall your seed remain." Isa. 66:22. 

''We, according to his promise, look for new 
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth right- 
eousness." 2 Pet. 3:13. 

' ' And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; 
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed 
away; and there was no more sea." Rev. 21:1. 

Such are the inspiring announcements of 
Scripture concerning the bright and happy econ- 
omy which is to succeed the present probationary 
and preparatory dispensation. Though the earth 
and the atmosphere are to be subjected to fervent 
and dissolving heat, yet we find nothing in these 
prophetic revelations to indicate that the ele- 
mentary substances of the earth or the air will be 
annihilated, or that the earth as a planet will oc- 
cupy any different place or relation in the solar 
system from what it does at present. The terms 
employed by the sacred writers lead us to infer 
that its materials, though "dissolved," will re- 
main, and that out of them is to be constituted 



THK FINAI^ CONFI.AGRATION. 1S9 

the '^new earth," which is to abide and contiuue 
its revolutions in the great system of nature as 
before. But its cosmical arrangements, we are 
given to understand, will be widely different. 

''We look for new heavens," that is, aerial 
heavens constituted anew. What that constitu- 
tion will be we are not informed. But we know 
from actual experiments that the present consti- 
tution of the atmosphere might be altered, and 
greatly altered, in various ways. It might be 
rarified or mio^ht be rendered more dense than it 
is at present, and either of these changes would 
also change its refractive powers as well as its 
temperature. Or, the gases composing it might 
be combined in different proportions, and in this 
way be rendered more stimulating or more exhil- 
arating and delightful. Or, it might be made 
capable of suspending less aqueous vapor, and thus 
render the celestial orbs, as seen through it, far 
more brilliant and glorious. Or, it might be 
made to intercept less and to reflect more of any 
of the various colors combined in the sunbeams, 
and thus clothe the face of nature in widely dif- 
ferent and infinitely more beauteous hues. But 
what the changes that shall be made will be we 
know not. All that is said is that we are to look 
for ' ' new heavens. ' ' 

''And a new earth." This is all the informa- 



igo NATURAI. LAWS AND GOSPEL TKACHINGS. 

tion vouchsafed to us where our natural curiosky 
would ardently crave for more. No description 
of either scenery or climate or productions is 
given. One hint, however, is dropped: ''There 
shall be no more sea." If this expression is to be 
taken literally, then a new and, to us, altogether 
unknown and unimaginable series of arrange- 
ments and compensations are to be introduced 
into its physical constitution and moral adapta- 
tions, for we cannot conceive how the world could 
be fitted for organized existences without a sea. 
But whatever may be the meaning of these words, 
we are assured that this earth is then to be fash- 
ioned and furnished to be a suitable and delight- 
ful abode for innocent and righteous beings, and 
that, therefore, nothing will be admitted into its 
constitution or arrangements that will be liable 
to inflict injury or pain or sorrow, and nothing 
left out that will be essential to innocent enjoy- 
ment, to intellectual progress, or to devout and 
holy services. It will be a secure, peaceful, de- 
lightful, and glorious world — a second paradise, 
and such as shall exceed all our present hopes 
and expectations; ''for eye hath not seen, ear 
hath not heard, neither have entered into the 
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared 
for them that love him." 



THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION, igi 

THE DWELLERS OF THE NEW EARTH. 

* * Wherein d welleth righteousness. ' ' The new 
heavens and new earth, then, into which, accord- 
ing to this interpretation of prophecy, the pres- 
ent disordered and corrupt world shall be trans- 
formed is to be the abode of righteous beings. And 
who will these be ? We have the answer in the 
apostle's words; mark them: 

" We look for" — that is, we wait and hope for; 
a form of expression that clearly implies that Peter 
and \i\s fellow-Christians expected to be inheritors 
of the new earth and new heavens. And upon 
this expectation he grounds this exhortation: 
''Wherefore, beloved, seeing \h2Xye look for SMoh 
things, be diligent, that ye may be found of Him 
in peace, without spot and blameless." 

It is obvious, hence, that the dwellers of the 
new earth and new heavens are to be the risen 
saints of the Most High, all clothed in bodies like 
unto the glorified body of the Son of God, all sin- 
less creatures, living in free and fiill converse 
with the Being who made and saved and sancti- 
fied them, and enjoying the friendships and shar- 
ing the delights of angels. 

According to the Scriptures, then, we are not 
to conceive of the redeemed in their final state as 
mere spiritual existences, dwellers of an aerial 



192 NATURAI, LAWS AND GOSPKL TEACHINGS. 

region mysteriously suspended upon nothing, but 
as having material bodies endowed with organs of 
sense and perception, having solid ground beneath 
them and a visible firmament over them, with 
scenes of luxuriance and grandeur and delight 
encompassing them on every side, dwelling amid 
all the warm and living accompaniments of so- 
cial and kindly intercourse of loved and loving 
communion with associates, and rejoicing in the 
sensible tokens of an ever-present and presiding 
Deity. And it may assist our faith and aid our 
conception as to how this can be in a material 
world to remember that all this was originally the 
happy lot of the first parents of our race; and 
above all, that the Son of Man, though clothed in 
a material body and living amid material scenes, 
yet ever enjoyed the ministry of angels and the 
unclouded presence and communion of the Father. 
And we^ it is promised, ^' shall be like him, for 
we shall see him as he is. " 

Some seem to think that there is a grossness 
connected with a material body and a material 
abode that is incompatible with perfect holiness 
or complete happiness; but this is an erroneous 
idea and meets with a sufficient refutation in the 
person of our blessed Redeemer. That he, the 
divinity, should wrap his unfathomable essence 
in a covering of flesh and blood and live among 



THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION. I93 

US in the palpable form and structure of a man, 
and that he should not only have chosen such a 
tenement as a temporary abode, but that he should 
have borne it with him into heaven, the high and 
holy place he now occupies at the right hand of 
God — this assuredly is a sufficient attestation that 
a material body and a material abode may con- 
sist with perfect holiness and complete happi- 
ness. 

' ' When once sin is done aw^ay , ' ' says the de- 
vout and eloquent Dr. Chalmers, ' ' it consists 
with all we know of God's administration that 
what is material shall be perpetuated in the full 
bloom and vigor of immortality. It altogether 
holds out a warmer and more alluring picture of 
the elysium that awaits us when told that there 
will be beauty to delight the eye and music to 
regale the ear and the comfort that springs from 
all the charities of intercourse between man and 
man, holding converse as they now do and glad- 
dening each other with the benignant smiles that 
play on the human countenance or the accents of 
kindness that fall in soft and soothing melody 
from the human voice. There is much of the 
innocent and much of the inspiring and much to 
affect and elevate the heart in the scenes and con- 
templations of that which is material; and we do 
hail the information of the Scriptures that after 

Natural J^aws. J '2 



194 NATURAIv I,AWS AND GOSPEl. T]E:ACHINGS. 

the dissolution of its present framework it will 
again be varied and decked out anew in all the 
graces of its unfading verdure and of its unbound- 
ed variety; that in addition to our direct and per- 
sonal view of the Deity when he comes down to 
tabernacle with man we shall also have the reflec- 
tion of him in a lovely mirror of his own work- 
manship ; and that instead of being transported to 
some abode of dimness and of mystery so remote 
from human experience as to be beyond all 
human comprehension, we shall walk for ever in 
a land replenished with those sensible delights 
and those sensible glories which, we doubt not, 
will lie most profusely scattered over the new 
heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth 
rio-hteousness." 

o 

Thus at last this earth, which through all the 
ages of its sad history has been a blot on the fair 
face of God's creation— the dark habitation of 
fallen, sinful men, the theatre of iniquity and cor- 
ruption and crime— shall be purified by a baptism 
of fire, and by the Creator's might shall be reno- 
vated and beautified to be the blissful abode of a 
virtuous and holy population, all sinless, all hap- 
py, all Christlike in body and spirit! *' There 
shall in no wise enter into it anything that defi- 
leth." '^ And there shall be no more death, nei- 
ther sorrow nor crying" nor pain. And ^^hey 



THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION. I95 

shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." 
But ''the Lamb which is in the midst of the 
throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto 
living fountains of waters. ' ' 



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